Anyone else experience issues trying to sync Bitcoin blockchain to a fresh node using Umbrel home 2TB NVMe, 16GB RAM.
i keep running into the same error around block 220 000~
Did you add the NVMe drive separately, or did it come with the Umbrel (or is your Umbrel a DIY)?
I just recently wiped and reinstalled umbrel on my RPi4 and what I did was run bitcoin core on my much more powerful laptop with external SSD attached for the initial block download and then I moved that over to the Umbrel and only had to wait for the synchronization to complete in a few days.
brand new umbrel. from the umbrel store no external drives added
Great. That rules out a fake NVMe drive (which is something I was burned by once). Do you have a lot of power surges in your area?
not usually but its weird that you say that because this morning my light flickered in the house.
although i have been trying to sync the node since last night. tried several times. it always seems to get stuck at that 200 to 230k blocks
Power surges are the most common cause for this exact behavior, which is why I always mention them first. But if we can rule that out, then the next likely causes are hardware-related issues that could impact power. The two most common hardware failures that behave like this:
-
The power supply is not producing sufficient current (manufacturing defect). What happens is that when the validation process reaches a particular point in the blockchain, it ramps up the CPU usage and needs to draw more power. If the power supply can’t provide it, then the NVMe starts to operate on low-voltage conditions (which are similar to the power surge scenario)
-
The cooling system is failing (blocked exhaust or manufacturing defect with the fan most likely). Similar to #1, when the IBD starts to get resource intensive, CPU usage ramps up, and cooling requirements increase. If the cooling system can’t keep up, this can lead to overheating and data errors.
Another possible hardware related issue would be a manufacturing defect with the NVMe (would also map well to the process always failing at a particular point in the IBD) or with the RAM (such as hitting low-voltage errors during high-RAM usage, which would behave similarly to #1)
Since you got it from Umbrel directly, I would recommend reaching out to whatever support they provide (I don’t have a real Umbrel myself, so not sure what support options are available).
thanks for the input. I have been in contact with Umbrel support and they are looking into it at the moment. just had to send then some diagnostic logs. I hope its a simple issue. otherwise ill have to return it and get a replacement. do you know of others with Umbrel home 2TB SSD with 16GB RAM having a well functionning node. im wondering if i need to get the 32GBram/4TBssd