What influences Bitcoin Core sync rate?

DIY, Hacking, & How-To
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I just built a node using a Pi4 4GB I had surplus, it is in an ArgonOne M.2 case with a 1TB SATA SSD. Yes, I know that this is not ideal spec but was available.
The build and Start9 installation were a non-event. I have installed four services but stopped all but Bitcoin Core as the sync has slowed to almost nothing.
The server is running over 10 days on a fast fiber & hard wiered network connection and is slowly creeping towards 34%. I have read the posts on the “…sync keeps tiing out…” thread and there is nothing there to help. Service settings in Bitcoin Core are default including threads and worker queue per recommended (16 and 128)

Anybody care to sugest a problem or some diagnostic I can use to spot the issue. FYI: I have SSH keys to reach >_

Thanks

G

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Hi @GryKyo - on that hardware, which yes, is far from ideal, the sync is going to take perhaps another 3 to 4 weeks by my estimate. When you get to 90%, you’ll be a little more than halfway through.

The message you are seeing about the sync timing out is related to the amount of RAM you have. You can ignore it so long as the logs of Bitcoin Core show blocks coming in (UpdateTip over and over).

There’s not much you’re going to be able to do other than wait.

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I had an 8GB Raspberry Pi land in the post this morning. Does anybody know if there are settings written to configuration during first start that I would have to edit if I change out the 4GB Pi for this new 8GB unit?

Thanks in advance

G

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…and I am back to answer my own question just in case anybody is curious to know.

Vastly different performance. The sync has gone from about 2-3 blocks per minute to over 40 per minute. I guess this will slow by the time it gets towards the more recent blocks but at least I can look forward to hosting the full bitcoin core before 2024

G

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You should expect about a 1 week sync time on an 8GB Pi last time I tested.

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What’s the reason why the sync will slow by the time it gets toward the more recent blocks?

I’m having the same issue as well. I’m at 95% and it’s taking extremely long compared to when it syncing the earlier blocks.

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Unfortunately, due to the ballooning size of the UTXO set, we can no longer recommend the RasPi hardware for a Bitcoin stack. This is the reason for your sync slowing to a crawl for recent (since May) blocks.

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Thanks for the explanation!:pray:

Is there a reason why the UTXO data size all of sudden increased from May?
Did something change in the protocol?

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Ordinals What are bitcoin ordinals and how do they work? | Fidelity

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Is it the RAM of the RasPi which makes it so slow or the SD Card? I am running on a small desktop with only 8Gb RAM and wondering if it’ll be as slow as a Pi?

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There are many factors. RAM is a factor when dealing with the UTXO set sync, which started hitting 8GB for the first time in the past few months. Other issues on the Pi are power delivery and data connection, which exacerbate the UTXO sync issue.

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So on a micro computer, 8Gb RAM, do you think it can chug through?

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The answer is “probably,” but I would upgrade your RAM to 16GB. This problem will only get worse over time.

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Yer, I’ll be making this upgrade as soon as I spot a good deal. Thanks for the help.

Can we blame Ordinals for this mess, pleez?

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I’m okay with blaming ordinals. Get off my magic internet lawn