State of the Redd-Nation :: Jan 22, 2016

Announcements
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Updates

Rebuilding local development infrastructure

Building on last weeks update, I wanted to share with you a bit of what is going on behind the scenes in order to be able to test each of the wallets.

For the most common systems out there, we have a combination of Linux, Windows and OSx operating systems. For Linux there has been both 32 and 64 bit implementations of the wallet, Windows is 32bit and OSx is 64bit. With the new build process and release, I am able to introduce Windows 64bit into the mix (which is missing from tehe current). So this will bring a total of 5 different versions to build and test along with ancillary applications (more on this in a later update). As you would appreciate, this takes a reasonable amount of resources to setyp, configure and run.

For the test environment, it mainly consists of a host machine running multiple Virtual Machines. In this way, I am able to isolate guest machines and provide some safety barriers through isolation

The actual setup consistes of the following:

  • Multiple wallets
  • 3 guests v1.4.1.0 wallets (Ubuntu Linux, Windows, OSx ML2)
  • 3 guests v’beta’ wallets (Ubuntu Linux, Windows, OSx ML2)
  • 2 always on guests (Ubuntu Linux)
  • For a total of 8 VM’s

2nd Anniversary

This week marked Reddcoin 2nd Anniversary January 21, 2014 was the creation of the Genesis Block ‘0’.

It was a rather subdued occasion without much fan-fair, which is ok for me. The occassion is technically less exciting than reaching 1MM blocks. For the most part, I preferred to direct my time and energy and focus into the current activities and for the year ahead

New Wallet

Making some good progress this week and I have continued to squash a few bugs. No additional new features will go into this particular version, but it does follow closely to v0.9 of Bitcoin which has a few cosmetic changes.

  • Network graph
  • Rearrangment of tabs
  • Modified recieve address dialogue
  • Request payment option

I will be putting out some notes once closer to releasing, but you could get the bulk of these updates from the bitcoin 0.9.5 notes.

So basically as it stands, I have versions running on both main and testnet. Testnet is staking correctly, and i have been doing a number of tests around transfers, staking and fees. This testing will be moving across to mainnet shortly.

During the weekend, providing i dont pick any more obvious bugs I will be running another build cycle to give my current beta testers.

Testnet Block Explorer

I wasnt able to get to this activity just yet, but in my bug squashing and testing, it was obvious that it would make life much easier.

It is on my todo list, abet a lower priority
Effectively just need to fork the existing blockexplorer being used on http://live.reddcoin.com and find a server to run it (also want to add a method to resolve the OP_RETURN data).

In Closing

Thankyou for taking the time to read, I hope you found it informative.

If you would like me to cover anything, leave a reply and I will take note for next time

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Thank you very much for this detailed update Gnasher.

I look forward to speaking with you this weekend regarding the content of February’s newsletter.

1 Like
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Thanks for the update…still synching the block chain…I wish there was a way to do it faster bootstrap is still really slow.
I fully expect to be doing this synch for 7 or more days

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Redshift I feel your pain, I have been doing a bunch of network syncs for testing. Once i get through this load of work, i want to explore the bitcoin v0.10 headers first. This is suppose to dramatically improve the download process

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Gnasher Its the nature of the beast and every new user is going to face the same issue. When I first started with Bitcoin the Electum’? wallet seemed to be really fast at setting up. I wish I could figure out a way to do a dual synch…forwards first and backwards later…so that you get all of the relevant and recent things first and the earlier stuff…historical stuff later. The blockchain would have a check point like a chapter marker in a book historical data would load later, Anything needed for the wallet and coins to become active would be loaded first…not the way it works I know…each block builds on the last… soooo…I am synching…Anyone who joins any currency is going to face a similar grind…love to find a way around it

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Redshift said:

Thanks for the update…still synching the block chain…I wish there was a way to do it faster bootstrap is still really slow.
I fully expect to be doing this synch for 7 or more days

Good God… really? I didn’t think it was that bad… i always have a backup of the whole data folder for new installs, which reduces sync time to virtually none. Over a week on a SSD… this is bad. :confused:

When i update the bootstrap.dat file, probably tomorow, i’ll add an additional download; the whole damn thing minus the peers and wallet… This would be the ultimate “download at your own risk”, but a risk i’d be willing to take if downloading from reddcointalk.org.

Now i feel that creating the bootstrap.dat is pointless… T_T

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Didi Redshift
The synchronising experience will vary depending on the computing power of the host system.
Ultimately though, I hope that we can get some mileage from the “download headers first approach” so that the boot strap become less relevant

In the next week or so I think i might kick off a bitcoin v0.10 node to get a feel for how it compares.

Also, you may not be aware, but the other thing to keep in mind is the Reddcoin node generates a DB for TX (which bitcoin does not) this is to aid in the POS coin selection. Generating the TX index does add overhead to the synch process.

Dont be dismayed… we do have some ideas to improve the process.

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Didi Slow internet is not helping me. I used the current bootstrap from Mega which was fine. Its midnight now and I have been Synching since the 19th of Jan in the afternoon my connection has been up and down. I am still not done…close but not done
Half the balance has yet to show up which is heart stopping. Without the bootstrap it would probably take longer. So damned if you do damned if you dont

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1am on the 25th from the 19th at about 4pm so whats that in terms of hours and days I make it 6 days and change FINISHED finally…not anxious to do that again Back Up worked bootstrap worked so I’ll keep doing what I was doing

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Gnasher
Sent a little thank you

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Very much appreciated Redshift
Thankyou