[Solved] 2.8.3 won't start : ValueError: dictionary update sequence element #0 has length ...

[Daxx]

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/bin/electrum", line 379, in <module>
    d.init_gui(config, plugins)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/electrum/daemon.py", line 283, in init_gui
    self.gui.main()
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/electrum_gui/qt/__init__.py", line 200, in main
    if not self.start_new_window(path, self.config.get('url')):
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/electrum_gui/qt/__init__.py", line 157, in start_new_window
    wallet = self.daemon.load_wallet(path, None)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/electrum/daemon.py", line 220, in load_wallet
    wallet = Wallet(storage)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/electrum/wallet.py", line 1757, in __new__
    wallet = WalletClass(storage)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/electrum/wallet.py", line 1564, in __init__
    Deterministic_Wallet.__init__(self, storage)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/electrum/wallet.py", line 1409, in __init__
    Abstract_Wallet.__init__(self, storage)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/electrum/wallet.py", line 134, in __init__
    self.contacts = Contacts(self.storage)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/electrum/contacts.py", line 41, in __init__
    self.update(d)
ValueError: dictionary update sequence element #0 has length 34; 2 is required

ValueError: dictionary update sequence element #0 has length 34; 2 is required

I had just installed 2.8.3 over 2.7.13 (bug manifests > 2.7.18, i.e. 2.8.x)

At some point, the invalid "contacts" data, below, was added to the wallet causing the error:

    "contacts": [
        "18iVFy6oVw197jFmxxxujA3xMwTp68b2Ea"
    ], 

That string happens to be length 34, so the length in the error message could vary.

Deleting this section (NOT RECOMMENDED) allowed 2.8.3 to start, then I found:
Wallet -> Contacts -> Import
... which took the data from my old .electrum/contacts file (not sure if this is used any more?)

Now the fixed wallet data looks like this:

    "contacts": {
        "18iVFy6oVw197jFmxxxujA3xMwTp68b2Ea": [
            "address", 
            "bitcointicker.co"
        ] 
    }, 

[ecdsa]

indeed you can remove the contacts file