Post
Topic
Board Bitcoin Technical Support
Re: 2013 wallet.dat fails to load on version 29
by
takuma sato
on 24/09/2025, 18:44:52 UTC
The last wallet file is from 2019. What I noticed is that there doesn't seem to be a database folder on the main folder,
It depends on the version that was last in use. Newer versions would ensure that all the data from the log files ended up in the wallet.dat file, then delete the database folder, on shutdown. This would also happen periodically during operation. However, older versions and unclean shutdowns would still have the database folder.

Im looking at the debug.log and the last times I opened Bitcoin Core the version it says it was v0.19.0.1

Lines that have to do with the wallet:

init message: Verifying wallet(s)...
Using BerkeleyDB version Berkeley DB 4.8.30: (April 9 2010)
Using wallet C:\Users\takuma\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin
BerkeleyEnvironment::Open: LogDir=C:\Users\takuma\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin\database ErrorFile=C:\Users\takuma\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin\db.log

some other lines here about blocks ad chainstate like "Opened LevelDB successfully" etc then

No coin database inconsistencies in the last 6 blocks

init message: Loading walet....
BerkeleyEnvironment::Open: LogDir=C:\Users\takuma\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin\database ErrorFile=C:\Users\takuma\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin\db.log
[default wallet] Wallet File Version = 60000
[default wallet] Keys: 0 plaintext, 1000+ encrypted, 1000+ w/ metadata, 1000+ total (im typing this by hand looking at the screen so im not putting exact numbers) Unknown wallet records: 1
[default wallet] Wallet completed loagin
init message : Rescanning...

Here it starts scanning and I have some AddToWallet new

So I was opening the node and the date says 2020 so I was still using the wallet there and reeving transactions... but there is no database folder, not even a file inside the database folder.

The testnet3 folder has a database folder with log. It also has the "ErrorFile=C:\Users\takuma\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin\testnet3\db.log thing"

But for testnet3 the last version on the debug used was 0.15.1

So I don't get it, as I never did any manual updates of the wallet format. So either the wallet.dat will work without the database thing because Bitcoin Core v0.19.0.1 is modern enough to not need it, or somehow the database folder disappeared.