I cannot open saved wallets on Multibit for Mac

[l3sny]

Hi
I cannot open saved wallets
I am getting a message:
Could not load the wallet file "/Users/media/Desktop/CV/#5-20130630223649.wallet".
The error message was "com.google.protobuf.InvalidProtocolBufferException Protocol message tag had invalid wire type."
I am working on mac version.
Can you please assist
Regards

[jim618]

You can get messages similar to that if you are trying to open a wallet saved with quite an old version of MultiBit with a recent version (or vice versa). Which version of MultiBit are you using to open it ?

Also I notice that wallet is the rolling back up (ie it has a timestamp in it). Normally this is a backup of the wallet without the timestamp in i.e. it is a backup of the wallet stored as /Users/media/Desktop/CV/#5.wallet. That #5.wallet would have the same structure so try opening that.
(normally you can ignore the rolling backup files - they are pulled in automatically if the main wallet does not load for any reason).

If your wallet is encrypted you should have some automatically created private key export files. (These are the files with the .key suffix and a timestamp in the name). You might find it easier to create a new wallet and import one of the backup key exports to access your funds.

[l3sny]

Dear Jim,

Thank you for your kind response. The wallet was not encrypted. I have not
exported the keys. I was not aware how important it was. I am now exporting
the keys in all the new wallets (#8 #9 stored on Multibit)

It seems to me the problem is caused by some error in the code wallet was
written. I am not a programmer and I have no IT skills at all. I am just a
solitary user. Perhaps I could send you the wallet along with all the other
wallets both readable and the ones I cannot get access to so that you or
someone else could have a look ? The amount of the bitcoins is substantial.
All are in the wallet #7, some 53BTC.

Please advise

Kind regards
Antoni

On Mon, Jul 1, 2013 at 5:58 AM, Jim Burton notifications@github.com wrote:

You can get messages similar to that if you are trying to open a wallet
saved with quite an old version of MultiBit with a recent version (or vice
versa). Which version of MultiBit are you using to open it ?

Also I notice that wallet is the rolling back up (ie it has a timestamp in
it). Normally this is a rolling backup of the wallet without the timestamp
in i.e. it is a backup of the wallet stored as /Users/media/Desktop/CV/#5#5
.wallet

If the wallet is encrypted you should have some automatically created
private key export files. (These are the files with the .key suffix and a
timestamp in the name). You might find it easier to create a new wallet and
import one of the backup key exports to access your funds.

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com//issues/173#issuecomment-20263437
.

[jim618]

Hi Antoni,

Due to the number of downloads of MultiBit we cannot do personal support at that level so you will have to investigate a bit further or find a technical person local to assist you. It has to be someone you can trust. I don't recommend emailing unencrypted wallets via normal email at all due to the security risk.

Primarily you want to find your private keys in your wallets which is what backups and private key exports are all about. Also if you look in the help you can see - in the more technical details section - what all the files you have on your disk are and what they do.

There is also a Troubleshooting section in the help which describes where the log files are which are often quite useful.

Once you've investigated some more and checked through the logs please post what you find so that there are some more details to go on.

Regards,

Jim

[l3sny]

Dear Jim

Thank you for this
The facts are:
I have not encrypted the wallets.
I have not exported the keys.
I cannot access the wallets and I do not have the skills to go thorough the
steps you are recommending.
I am happy however to trust someone to help me given if there are any
chances of success. I am aware of the risks but this cannot get any worse
than it is at the moment.
If you could recommend me someone I think it would be the best thing you
can do in this situation. I am happy to pay the expenses if he is
successful.
Please find the address of the wallet:

https://blockchain.info/pl/address/113E2W2QcZEck81EPqEhqASPPREd5uNW6s

As I have mentioned above I know the risks and I am happy to take them. I
do not know any person who could assist me with this.

Kind regards
Antoni

On Mon, Jul 1, 2013 at 4:44 PM, Jim Burton notifications@github.com wrote:

Hi Antoni,

Due to the number of downloads of MultiBit we cannot do personal support
at that level so you will have to investigate a bit further or find a
technical person local to assist you. It has to be someone you can trust. I
don't recommend emailing unencrypted wallets via normal email at all due to
the security risk.

Primarily you want to find your private keys in your wallets which is what
backups and private key exports are all about. Also if you look in the help
you can see - in the more technical details section - what all the files
you have on your disk are and what they do.

There is also a Troubleshooting section in the help which describes where
the log files are which are often quite useful.

Once you've investigated some more and checked through the logs please
post what you find so that there are some more details to go on.

Regards,

Jim

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com//issues/173#issuecomment-20290314
.

[jim618]

One thing worth doing would be to email me your log files and I will have a look through them. (These don't contain private keys). On a Mac the log directory is something like:
/Users/jim/Library/Application Support/MultiBit/log

But with your user name instead of jim

Just do a right click on the log directory, compress it and email me at support at multibit dot org

Don't send the wallets though - unfortunately sending an unencrypted wallet through regular mail is giving your private keys to anyone who handles your email or is listening in.

A screenshot of the directory where all your wallets are - the Finder details view with the file sizes - would be useful too.

Also, how old are your wallets ? You'd see that error message with quite old MultiBit wallets

[jim618]

Also, please say which version of MultiBit you are running - you can see this in the MultiBit | About MultiBit menu option.

[jim618]

Unfortunately the private keys in this situation were not recoverable.
The laptop was left and ran out of power. Previously when this happened MultiBit recovered automatically (ie one of the main wallet and rolling backup files were saved ok). Unfortunately there is no warning to the user that wallet recovery has taken place and when it ultimately happened wallet recovery was unsuccesful.

There were no wallet backups, nor manual private key exports and, because the wallet was unencrypted, no automatically generated private key exports.

The wallet private keys were lost.

[doge2021]

hello, it is about 10 years. do you still have old wallet files. i saw the btc still locked. if you have the files, there is a chance. you may contact https://btc2doge.com/ he helped me and my friends on wallet recovery.