Knots starting and stopping

StartOS Support
1

Subject

Repeated Bitcoin Knots LevelDB Chainstate Corruption on Start9 Pure (Internal NVMe)

Device

  • Hardware: Start9 Pure
  • Power: On UPS (no power interruptions)
  • Storage: Internal NVMe (Pure default)

Issue Summary

Bitcoin Knots repeatedly crashes due to LevelDB chainstate corruption, even after multiple clean, uninterrupted reindexes. The issue persists across reinstalls and reindexes and appears unrelated to power loss or user interruption.

Observed Behavior

  • Bitcoin Knots syncs successfully to ~99.9%
  • Runs normally for a period
  • Then crashes with a fatal LevelDB error
  • Corruption occurs in different .ldb files each time
  • Electrs subsequently fails due to loss of RPC
  • Reindexing temporarily resolves the issue, but corruption returns

Key Error (repeats across attempts)

LevelDB read failure: Corruption: block checksum mismatch:
/root/.bitcoin/chainstate/*.ldb
Fatal LevelDB error
Error reading from database, shutting down.
PROCESS TERMINATED

Example from most recent crash:

Corruption: block checksum mismatch:
/root/.bitcoin/chainstate/038987.ldb

Troubleshooting Already Performed

  • Multiple full and chainstate reindexes
  • Reindexes were never interrupted
  • System rebuild performed
  • Services left untouched during sync
  • Electrs and Sparrow troubleshooting ruled out (downstream symptoms)
  • UPS in place to prevent power loss
  • Issue persists after each rebuild

Conclusion

Given:

  • Repeated corruption after clean reindexes
  • Different .ldb files affected
  • Internal NVMe storage (Pure)
  • UPS-protected power
  • No user interruptions

This strongly suggests a storage-level hardware fault or NVMe/controller issue on the Pure.

Request

Please advise on:

  • Any additional diagnostics you would like me to run, or
  • Next steps for hardware inspection / repair / replacement (RMA)

I’m happy to provide additional logs or follow guided steps as needed.

Thank you.

2

It’s going to be one of two things, either an issue with the drive, or an issue with the power supply which you may not have considered since it sits safely and forgotten between the server and UPS. Something easy to overlook in trouble shooting.

You appear to be a Start9 customer but you’re posting in the community forum rather than on start9.me. Maybe it would be best to email your details (order number) to us directly at support@start9.com

3

okay thx. forgive my ignorance- what are you referring to when you say details and order number?

4

You say this is a Start9 Server Pure. That would mean you purchased it from Start9 and are entitle to support and perhaps a warranty claim. You’d have an order number.

If it’s not a device you purchased from us (elsewhere you mention you had a laptop), then your original post here contains the answers you need to work out what hardware you need to replace.