I am currently setting up my first node using a Raspberry PI 4 8Gb and Start9 0.3.5.1.
I have attached the 2 GB SSD which has previously been used with Bitcoin Core 28 on my computer and it has the complete blockchain already on it.
During setup, Start9 warns me that any attached drive will be wiped.
I’d rather keep he blockchain downloaded by Bitcoin Core though.
Is this possible somehow?
Allowing Start9 to download it again will take a couple of days.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Chrstph!
Welcome to the sovereign computing path.
Start9 now recommends against using an external SSD on Raspberry Pis due to frequent power issues. Most Pis struggle to supply enough power to external drives, leading to unreliable performance. While some drives might work, they can also suddenly stop working. The only reliable solution is to use an externally powered hard drive enclosure. If you use a microSD instead, you’ll be running a pruned full node rather than an archival one.
Additionally, the Raspberry Pi (even the 8GB model) is rapidly becoming obsolete for Bitcoin. The UTXO set has grown significantly over the past year and is now about 8GB in size. The Pi’s USB connection has very slow disk speeds, causing the disk cache to build up. Once this cache nears 8GB, all operations will be sent to disk, resulting in extremely slow performance, especially if you’re running other services at the same time. We no longer recommend the Pi for Bitcoin in any configuration.
Regarding your second question about migrating blockchain data—yes, it’s possible, but it’s considered advanced. Start9 isn’t responsible for any issues that may arise from manual SSH access. We have guides on migrating between StartOS installations, and you may be able to adapt the commands, but expect challenges. Think carefully before diving in.
For the best experience, we recommend starting fresh on a more powerful x86 machine. Hope this helps!
Thanks for your reply. Looks like I have made the wrong choice by choosing the PI… No big deal as all part were used and will be easy to get rid of.
I really only need this node for doing transactions. Bitcoin Core running on my computer is not offering enough privacy since the xpubs of the wallets are sitting on their unencrypted.
That’s why my plan was to connect Sparrow to my own Private Electrum server.
What are other options do I have here?
Getting an old Thinkpad or MacBook? As far as I know that won’t solve the privacy issue created by Bitcoin Core.
At this time, I really don’t see myself investing 600 bucks in one of the machines Start9 and other companies are using.
The easiest way to get set up with Bitcoin and Electrs is going to be to run StartOS in some capacity. Your options, to me, look like investing in ~$600 with Start9 to be able to verify and broadcast your transactions privately… or investing $0 to $600+… to do so with DIY hardware. The value you place on running a node, and if it’s worth it to you, is a decision only you can make.
The fact that you can’t use an old Pi and follow a 2019 Pi guide does NOT mean you have to purchase anything from Start9 at all. You can find all manners of x86 hardware out there that can run StartOS, from used and free, to brand new costing thousands. You’d just need to follow out guides to set it up. Start9 | DIY
Don’t discard that hardware yet! That device will make a great little StartOS server. I use my Pi for VaultWarden, Nostr, and NextCloud. It works great! For security, it’s best to avoid running unrelated services on the same machine as Bitcoin anyway.
Thanks for the responses, guys.
Since I wouldn’t have liked to purchase the PI and related hardware for nothing I wanted to at least complete the setup process and tinker with Start9 a little bit. After installing Bitcoin Core on it yesterday evening and telling it to start syncing the blockchain I woke up to the following error message this morning:
RPC ERROR: Database Error error returned from database: could not open file “base/XXXXX/XXXX”: Read-only file system
I think that’s caused by the SSD shutting down, right?
I liked the whole PI setup idea because everything is so small and rather cheap. Perfect to store it away with signing devices etc. I don’t have any other use for it then doing Bitcoin though.
I find it rather strange how Youtube/the web is full of three to four year old tutorials on setting up a PI Bitcoin node but nobody seems to care to update their video descriptions/articles when what they’re suggesting stops working.
Since there’s two laptops in this household anyways, I might look into preparing an external SSD with the Start9 setup and just boot from it when I need to make a transaction.
Thanks for the link StuPleb. I had my PI-goggles on when I looked at this site and didn’t even recognize the X86 tab. At the start, I wanted to use Umbrel anyways but decided against it because of some reviews.
Yes, this look like an unpowered/underpowered SSD. You can buy interfaces for the USB drive, and whole cases, that allow you to externally power the drive to make this work.
Currently syncing the blockchain on a 2,5 ghz dual core i5 with 16 gigabyte ram. Very slooowww… Would it be faster if I did it with a quad core 1,6 ghz with the same ram? I downloaded the one gigabyte Start9 .iso super fast but it took 12 hours to get to 18% of the blockchain. Anything I can do to speed this process up? I’ve looked at some of the settings and saw .onion somewhere. Is it syncing the blockchain over Tor? I’d love that when doing transaction but for the initial download…?
Also… I’ve noticed it didn’t ask me to do any certificate stuff this time (did this when doing the Raspi install). Is that right?
It’s either the processor, the RAM, or the drive. It could even be two of them. Or three.
I think there were dual cores i5s made all through mid 2010s, so your description doesn’t narrow anything down. If you suspect the processor is slow, there’s no way I can confirm that for you.
No, but default Bitcoin is not set to Tor only. Download speed is not the issue here anyway, so you could even set it to be Tor only and nothing will slow down.
Yes, you need to set up StartOS, but, that has nothing to do with Bitcoin itself.
One of my machined is a 10 year old core i5. It took approximately 60 days to complete Initial Blockchain Download, with the CPU at nearly 100% the entire time. The network, even if you are using Tor, is likely not the bottleneck. You have to remember, the IBD is not simply a download of raw data. It’s a complete cryptographic verification of every transaction that has ever been made on the Bitcoin Network.
I can’t answer the question about faster cores vs more, but slower, cores. I don’t know anything about Bitcoin Core’s multi-thread capabilities -as to which would be more optimal. That’s probably a question best for the Bitcoin Core team.
Roughly six days for blockchain download and verification and one night of electrs-business. I am now connected with Sparrow!
The whole thing – albeit a little slow and challenging for my not very experienced self at times – was very easy to set up. I will make a donation to Start9 soon.
Thank you very much for your help, everyone!
We would be very appreciative is you could be so kind as to leave us a review:
Can’t you just move the blocks and chain and index into the folder for the new install to cut down on time?
Hi Rexter. can you please elaborate on the security risks associated with running unrelated services on the same machine as Bitcoin?
Doesn’t each service have a unique ToR address?
Is this more a concern in terms of attack surface (more services = more places an attacker could potentially gain access to my Start9 from)?
Thanks
Totally. You can see an example here…
https://docs.start9.com/0.3.5.x/service-guides/bitcoin/blockchain-copy
Yes, every services has it’s own local, and tor interlace
Yep, that’s it. Every piece of software has known, and unknown vulnerabilities. There are no known vulnerabilities, that would allow one service to access your private keys in Bitcoin core. But as unlikely as it is, there may be unknown vulnerabilities. Having a dedicated Bitcoin machine minimized the attack surface. For most people, this is an unnecessary step. But it’s nice to know you have that extra segregation if you can.