How to use the "Bootstrap.dat" file with bitcoin-qt?

Question

I have searched around, and nothing I find works for me. Downloaded the approx. 10 GB Bootstrap.dat file. Now stuck on trying to link it with Bitcoin-QT.

Tried the following command in the console box in the bitcoin-qt app:

bitcon-qt -loadblock=/path/to/bootstrap.dat

Also tried copying the file into the AppData/Roaming/Bitcoin file... Still no luck.

I'm running Windows 7, anyone have step by step instructions on how to set this up?

Your question may be best addressed to the original post on the BitcoinTalk forum. — Colin Dean, Nov 17 '13 at 10:53
it did help me thanks! Im running bitcoin-qt 0.8.5 on a mac os10.9 , and i downloaded the bootstrap.dat file, dumped it on /application support/bitcoin/ and the client found it and started importing blocks from disk. all G! cheers — , Dec 09 '13 at 05:05
This does not really answer the question. If you have a different question, you can ask it by clicking Ask Question. You can also add a bounty to draw more attention to this question once you have enough reputation. — Stéphane Gimenez, Jan 23 '14 at 13:20

score 10 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 13 '14 at 17:47

10

Okay, it appears after much trial and error, I figured out that you put the bootstrap.dat file in the AppData/Roaming/Bitcoin or ~/.bitcoin folder. You can leave everything else in that folder untouched, just add the bootstrap.dat file in the Bitcoin folder.

I left bootstrap.dat in there, and finally Bitcoin-QT found it, and on the bottom it states "Importing blocks from disk..." I'm currently at 80 weeks behind on the update, compared to 240+.

I was reading crap about using the -loadblock command and extracting/unzipping the .dat file.... well this wasn't needed. At least it isn't needed on the current version of QT, which I believe is .8.0.5

edited Mar 13 '14 at 17:47

0xcaff

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answered Nov 17 '13 at 20:20

CalicoBrak

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It didn't work for me. Just left in the same directory of wallet.dat and it did not work. This directory should be empty? Without any block previously downloaded? – Felipe Mar 23 '14 at 00:11
On Linux, I made sure the folder was empty when I put bootstrap.dat there. Also, I used a different folder, so I started bitcoin-qt with bitcoin-qt -datadir=/media/downloads/bitcoin . Probably it saved the datadir in its config file, I will check that later. – Bit Chaser Oct 18 '14 at 19:30

score 7 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 18 '14 at 11:08

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I tried putting blockfile in .bitcoin directory and starting ./bitcoind but doesn't works. By the way, this method works best for me.

./bitcoind -loadblock=~/.bitcoin/bootstrap.dat

You need to use loadbloack syntax with the ./bitcoind .

edited Jun 18 '14 at 11:08

Stéphane Gimenez

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answered Dec 12 '13 at 03:40

How to use the "Bootstrap.dat" file with bitcoin-qt?

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