Checkpoints

Since versions 3+ you can sync a fresh chain from 0 much quicker by loading "checkpoints" with your daemon.

How to synchronise the blockchain faster and better

Download the complete checkpoints list from the BLOC-checkpoints GitHub repository

This list is updated automatically every day at 12 am (UTC+1)

Setup

• Right click this link and choose Save link as... to download the latest checkpoints.csv.
• Place checkpoints.csv in the same folder as your BLOCd daemon
• You can get BLOCd from here if you don't have it already: https://bloc.money/download
• Make sure you shut down any GUI wallets, or any other instances of BLOCd.

It should looks like this:

Usage

Windows

• First, open a command prompt in the same directory as BLOCd.

• This can easily be done by moving to the BLOCd directory in Windows Explorer, then typing cmd in the search bar and hitting enter:

• Finally, type BLOCd.exe --load-checkpoints checkpoints.csv in the command prompt.

Linux, Apple

• First, open a command prompt in the same directory as BLOCd.
• You can use the cd command to change to this directory. For example, cd Downloads/BLOC
• Alternatively, your file manager may provide the ability to open a terminal in your current directory. Navigate to the folder with BLOCd in, and try right clicking, to see if you can open a terminal there:

• Finally, type ./BLOCd --load-checkpoints checkpoints.csv in the terminal.

Expected Output

If you did the steps correctly, you should see something like this output.

2019-Jan-09 07:09:16.687959 INFO    Program Working Directory: ./BLOCd
2019-Jan-09 07:09:16.688363 INFO    Loading Checkpoints for faster initial sync...
2019-Jan-09 07:09:16.762279 INFO    Loaded 155590 checkpoints from checkpoints.csv
2019-Jan-09 07:09:16.762798 INFO    Opening DB in /home/test/.BLOC/DB
2019-Jan-09 07:09:16.764290 INFO    DB not found in /home/test/.BLOC/DB. Creating new DB...
2019-Jan-09 07:09:16.782948 INFO    Initializing core...
2019-Jan-09 07:09:16.784083 INFO    Core initialized OK

• BLOCd will then start syncing from checkpoints.
• If you are using the CLI wallet, then you can just wait for it to finish syncing, and open your wallet.
• If you are using a GUI wallet, let it finish syncing, close it down by typing exit in the window, then open your GUI wallet.

Once the synchronisation is finished you should see a message like this:

Common Errors

Invalid checkpoint file format

2018-May-13 12:10:08.325056 INFO    Loading Checkpoints for faster initial sync...
2018-May-13 12:10:08.339667 ERROR   Invalid checkpoint file format
2018-May-13 12:10:08.341758 ERROR   Exception: Failed to load checkpoints

• If you see output like the above, the file you are opening is either not a .csv file, or hasn't been downloaded correctly.
• Ensure you downloaded the file by right clicking, and choosing Save link as....
• If you incorrectly chose the wrong file, you can accidentally download a html page instead.
• When you open up the file, it should have lots of lines like this:

0,acd5682403287ad25d94769adb80fbcd45de591ecfd5c86d5176bb9a10ff5baa
1,8e2a9807eddd072ab88476e2b96f894f8de83afaae594adc42bc41478cbf6ba0
2,05001da5fd9f0923f52511271805223610c4419e369050696a223f6ce3b3201a
3,55ce2be7b8b63ad2d8075c93c5541d3cb3e069e47f3ba02862b56b0d10240f86

• If you absolutely can't get it working, you can make a new text file, copy all the content from here into it: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/furiousteam/BLOC-checkpoints/master/checkpoints.csv
• Then save as checkpoints.csv (Select filetype: all files in windows)

Failed to load checkpoints

2018-May-13 12:14:57.544286 INFO    Loading Checkpoints for faster initial sync...
2018-May-13 12:14:57.544569 ERROR   Could not load checkpoints file: checkpoints.csv
2018-May-13 12:14:57.544823 ERROR   Exception: Failed to load checkpoints

• If you see output like the above, it means the file isn't present in the directory you are in.
• Make sure you have placed the checkpoints.csv file in the same directory as BLOCd.

BLOCd.exe is not recognized / No such file or directory

C:\Users\username>BLOCd.exe --load-checkpoints checkpoints.csv
'BLOCd.exe' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

bash: ./BLOCd: No such file or directory

• If you see output like one of the above, it means your terminal isn't in the same folder as the BLOCd program.
• You can type pwd to see what folder you are currently in.
• Try following the steps above to get into the right folder, then try again.
• If you type ls, you should see the BLOCd program, if you are in the correct folder:

[BLOC] ls
miner  BLOC-service  BLOCWallet  BLOCd

IO error

2018-May-13 11:58:40.857058 INFO    Opening DB in /home/user/.BLOC/DB
2018-May-13 11:58:40.858174 ERROR   DB Error. DB can't be opened in /home/zacuserh/.BLOC/DB. Error: IO error: While lock file: /home/user/.BLOC/DB/LOCK: Resource temporarily unavailable
2018-May-13 11:58:40.873692 ERROR   Exception: IO error

• If you see output like the above, something else has got the database open already.
• Make sure you have closed down any other BLOCd's, GUI wallets, and BLOC-service.
• Use a task manager to help you find any which might be running in the background, then try again.

About BLOC

If this is your first time hearing about BLOC, we recommend starting by visiting the official BLOC.MONEY website and/or the BLOC Wiki