Who is in charge of blockchain download http://eu1.bitcoincharts.com/blockchain/

[Serith]

I tried to verify the signature of blockchain database using tcatm pgp key, but couldn't because public key wasn't found.

[BkkCoins]

It used to be Matt Corallo but I don't know if that's changed. I searched the key on keyserver.ubuntu.com and had no problem finding it.

http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371/pks/lookup?search=0x0E10F0EE&op=vindex

Code:

pub  2048R/0E10F0EE 2011-09-07            

uid Blockchain Snapshots
sig  sig3  0E10F0EE 2011-09-07 __________ __________ [selfsig]
sig  sig   944DE5F7 2011-09-07 __________ __________ Nils Schneider <nils@nilsschneider.net>
sig  sig   43E08E54 2011-09-07 __________ __________ Matt Corallo (BlueMatt) <matt@bluematt.me>

[BitcoinBug]

I'm just curious, what does this matter? Your client checks the data anyway, if not by default, you can run it with --rescan.

[mcorlett]

I'm just curious, what does this matter? Your client checks the data anyway, if not by default, you can run it with --rescan.

-rescan isn't nearly as thorough as the block validation that happens during the initial download and when receiving subsequent blocks. As such, it should not be regarded as secure.

[Serith]

It used to be Matt Corallo but I don't know if that's changed. I searched the key on keyserver.ubuntu.com and had no problem finding it.

http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371/pks/lookup?search=0x0E10F0EE&op=vindex

Code:

pub  2048R/0E10F0EE 2011-09-07            

uid Blockchain Snapshots
sig  sig3  0E10F0EE 2011-09-07 __________ __________ [selfsig]
sig  sig   944DE5F7 2011-09-07 __________ __________ Nils Schneider <nils@nilsschneider.net>
sig  sig   43E08E54 2011-09-07 __________ __________ Matt Corallo (BlueMatt) <matt@bluematt.me>

I read more about how this whole thing works, and if I am reading this right the key 0E10F0EE, that is used to sign blockchain database, is signed by Matt Corallo (BlueMatt) and Nils Schneider (tcatm). Could someone confirm it?

[mcorlett]

I read more about how this whole thing works, and if I am reading this right the key 0E10F0EE, that is used to sign blockchain database, is signed by Matt Corallo (BlueMatt) and Nils Schneider (tcatm). Could someone confirm it?

Correct!

[SuperHakka]

Hihi, noob here trying to download blockchain. I imported that 0E10F0EE public key into my gnupg keyring and tried to verify the latest tar file. gpg comes up with:

gpg: Signature made Wed 12 Sep 2012 01:02:43 BST using RSA key ID 0E10F0EE
gpg: Good signature from "Blockchain Snapshots"
gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
gpg:          There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.

Any idea wots dat all about?

[Etlase2]

Any idea wots dat all about?

I believe it is just a standard GPG warning saying that whatever they write in the name field doesn't mean that is proof of who they are. You probably need to add the key to your trusted list or somesuch.

[SuperHakka]

ok cheers, so the blockchain file looks legit then?

[SuperHakka]

I downloaded the public key from another keyserver at MIT and I get exactly the same results so looks ok. Bit unnerving though, thanks Etlase2.

[Etlase2]

I can make a GPG key that says my name is "Barack Obama" and GPG will rightly warn you that there is no proof that I am Barack Obama. That is all it is essentially saying. If you know my name is "Joe Bob" and I've given you my GPG key, you know it's from me and you can add it to your trusted list and you will not get a warning that there is no proof that Joe Bob signed this.

[SuperHakka]

Well I unzipped the file which gave me blk0001.dat and blk0002.dat. I downloaded fresh copy 0f 0.6.3 and started it, stopped it straightaway. I went to the hidden .bitcoin folder and deleted all files apart from wallet.dat. Put the blockchain down and started bitcoin-qt up again. It starts downloading from block 0 again! Seems like it is appending all the blocks to the end of blk0002.dat which is growing bigger in size. There was no blkindex.dat in the repository. Have I just wasted me bandwidth for nothing.

Oh and another thing, if I'm having such tremendous difficulty, how is Granny Smith or Frederick Bloggs-Jackson going to be coping I wonder 

[DeathAndTaxes]

Oh and another thing, if I'm having such tremendous difficulty, how is Granny Smith or Frederick Bloggs-Jackson going to be coping I wonder 

They won't.  They will be using lite nodes in probably 5 to 15 years from now.

[kjj]

Well I unzipped the file which gave me blk0001.dat and blk0002.dat. I downloaded fresh copy 0f 0.6.3 and started it, stopped it straightaway. I went to the hidden .bitcoin folder and deleted all files apart from wallet.dat. Put the blockchain down and started bitcoin-qt up again. It starts downloading from block 0 again! Seems like it is appending all the blocks to the end of blk0002.dat which is growing bigger in size. There was no blkindex.dat in the repository. Have I just wasted me bandwidth for nothing.

Oh and another thing, if I'm having such tremendous difficulty, how is Granny Smith or Frederick Bloggs-Jackson going to be coping I wonder 

Yeah, you wasted your bandwidth for nothing.  You can't use these files the way you want to.

If you are trying to avoid having your client download all of the blocks, you need the blk000?.dat files and the blkindex.dat, taken from a clean DB detach and copied at the same time.  You should let your client download the chain the long way, or at the very least manage your blockchain distribution yourself so that you know it is right.

(If you really want to download a working chain, there are some out there if you look.)

[BkkCoins]

Well I unzipped the file which gave me blk0001.dat and blk0002.dat. I downloaded fresh copy 0f 0.6.3 and started it, stopped it straightaway. I went to the hidden .bitcoin folder and deleted all files apart from wallet.dat. Put the blockchain down and started bitcoin-qt up again. It starts downloading from block 0 again! Seems like it is appending all the blocks to the end of blk0002.dat which is growing bigger in size. There was no blkindex.dat in the repository. Have I just wasted me bandwidth for nothing.

Oh and another thing, if I'm having such tremendous difficulty, how is Granny Smith or Frederick Bloggs-Jackson going to be coping I wonder 

Yeah, you wasted your bandwidth for nothing.  You can't use these files the way you want to.

If you are trying to avoid having your client download all of the blocks, you need the blk000?.dat files and the blkindex.dat, taken from a clean DB detach and copied at the same time.  You should let your client download the chain the long way, or at the very least manage your blockchain distribution yourself so that you know it is right.

(If you really want to download a working chain, there are some out there if you look.)

Really? I used this method last fall and it worked fine for me. Has the operation of the bitcoin client changed since then? I don't recall the file details now - from what I remember I downloaded and dropped the files provided in .bitcoin and after starting the client it just caught up new blocks.

[SuperHakka]

bugger me, so me latest plan then I downloaded the client onto faster machine at work, I'm going to then transfer blk*.dat and blkindex.dat together onto my home pc and cross me fingers.

[BkkCoins]

Thinking back... the way I likely did it was to install Bitcoin and start it up and then close it. So it didn't update fully but it initialized any files needed. Then I would have overwritten with the files from the download and started Bitcoin again. But that was a year ago and things may have changed. I've also backed up and replaced my wallet a few times by simply overwriting but for that you also need to know that no transactions occurred otherwise a -rescan option is needed to rescan the chain for wallet addresses.

[Tril]

To avoid starting from block 0, if you have no blkindex.dat, I think you need Bitcoin 0.7.0's -loadblock option.

-loadblock=<file>     Imports blocks from external blk000?.dat file

0.7.0 Release candidate thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1062360