# My node is permanently syncing

**URL:** <https://community.umbrel.com/t/my-node-is-permanently-syncing/11877>\
**Category:** Support and Troubleshooting\
**Created:** [March 20, 2023, 1:11am UTC](https://community.umbrel.com/t/my-node-is-permanently-syncing/11877 "2023-03-20T01:11:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![NodeRunnerChick](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.umbrel.com/noderunnerchick/32/2852_2.png) [@NodeRunnerChick](https://community.umbrel.com/u/NodeRunnerChick)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 1:11am UTC](https://community.umbrel.com/t/my-node-is-permanently-syncing/11877/1 "2023-03-20T01:11:56Z")

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I’ve been meaning to fix this but I have had to take my node offline many times. I’m going to try again but I may have to take it down due to weather this week. The lightning app won’t open and the Bitcoin app is perma syncing. (Sorry for the bad summary, I built the node but I’m not a dev).

**I think it’s stuck on parsing JSON files? Here are the errors from the log:** How do I fix it? Thanks!

Attaching to bitcoin\_server\_1, bitcoin\_bitcoind\_1, bitcoin\_tor\_1, bitcoin\_i2pd\_daemon\_1, bitcoin\_app\_proxy\_1, bitcoin\_tor\_server\_1  
app\_proxy\_1 | Validating token: 707563c299ce …  
app\_proxy\_1 | Validating token: 707563c299ce …  
app\_proxy\_1 | Validating token: 707563c299ce …  
app\_proxy\_1 | Validating token: 707563c299ce …  
app\_proxy\_1 | Validating token: 707563c299ce …  
app\_proxy\_1 | Validating token: 707563c299ce …  
app\_proxy\_1 | Validating token: 707563c299ce …  
app\_proxy\_1 | Validating token: 707563c299ce …  
app\_proxy\_1 | Validating token: 707563c299ce …  
app\_proxy\_1 | Validating token: 707563c299ce …  
bitcoind\_1 |  
bitcoind\_1 | Error: Failed loading settings file:  
bitcoind\_1 | - Unable to parse settings file /data/.bitcoin/settings.json  
bitcoind\_1 |  
bitcoind\_1 | Error: Failed loading settings file:  
bitcoind\_1 | - Unable to parse settings file /data/.bitcoin/settings.json  
bitcoind\_1 |  
bitcoind\_1 | Error: Failed loading settings file:  
bitcoind\_1 | - Unable to parse settings file /data/.bitcoin/settings.json  
bitcoind\_1 |  
tor\_1 | Mar 19 14:44:03.000 [notice] No circuits are opened. Relaxed timeout for circuit 4552 (a Hidden service: Uploading HS descriptor 4-hop circuit in state doing handshakes with channel state open) to 60000ms. However, it appears the circuit has timed out anyway. [8 similar message(s) suppressed in last 10140 seconds]  
tor\_1 | Mar 19 16:04:03.000 [notice] No circuits are opened. Relaxed timeout for circuit 4621 (a Hidden service: Uploading HS descriptor 4-hop circuit in state doing handshakes with channel state open) to 60000ms. However, it appears the circuit has timed out anyway. [5 similar message(s) suppressed in last 4800 seconds]  
tor\_1 | Mar 19 20:34:37.000 [notice] Heartbeat: Tor’s uptime is 3 days 18:00 hours, with 15 circuits open. I’ve sent 68.74 MB and received 63.47 MB. I’ve received 0 connections on IPv4 and 0 on IPv6. I’ve made 50 connections with IPv4 and 0 with IPv6.  
tor\_1 | Mar 19 20:34:37.000 [notice] While bootstrapping, fetched this many bytes: 607325 (consensus network-status fetch); 14349 (authority cert fetch); 5776010 (microdescriptor fetch)  
tor\_1 | Mar 19 20:34:37.000 [notice] While not bootstrapping, fetched this many bytes: 2236941 (consensus network-status fetch); 79785 (authority cert fetch); 1670545 (microdescriptor fetch)  
tor\_1 | Mar 19 20:51:04.000 [notice] No circuits are opened. Relaxed timeout for circuit 4860 (a Hidden service: Uploading HS descriptor 4-hop circuit in state doing handshakes with channel state open) to 60000ms. However, it appears the circuit has timed out anyway. [3 similar message(s) suppressed in last 17220 seconds]  
tor\_1 | Mar 19 22:00:05.000 [notice] No circuits are opened. Relaxed timeout for circuit 4924 (a Hidden service: Uploading HS descriptor 4-hop circuit in state doing handshakes with channel state open) to 60000ms. However, it appears the circuit has timed out anyway. [3 similar message(s) suppressed in last 4140 seconds]  
tor\_1 | Mar 19 23:49:06.000 [notice] No circuits are opened. Relaxed timeout for circuit 5025 (a Hidden service: Uploading HS descriptor 4-hop circuit in state doing handshakes with channel state open) to 60000ms. However, it appears the circuit has timed out anyway. [1 similar message(s) suppressed in last 6540 seconds]  
tor\_1 | Mar 20 00:58:01.000 [notice] No circuits are opened. Relaxed timeout for circuit 5060 (a Measuring circuit timeout 4-hop circuit in state doing handshakes with channel state open) to 60000ms. However, it appears the circuit has timed out anyway. [3 similar message(s) suppressed in last 4140 seconds]  
server\_1 | umbrel-middleware  
server\_1 | ::ffff:10.21.0.5 - - [Mon, 20 Mar 2023 01:04:18 GMT] “GET /ping HTTP/1.1” 200 37 “-” “Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10\_15\_7) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/16.3 Safari/605.1.15”  
server\_1 |  
server\_1 | umbrel-middleware  
server\_1 | ::ffff:10.21.0.5 - - [Mon, 20 Mar 2023 01:04:18 GMT] “GET /v1/bitcoind/system/bitcoin-config HTTP/1.1” 200 212 “-” “Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10\_15\_7) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/16.3 Safari/605.1.15”  
server\_1 |  
server\_1 | umbrel-middleware  
server\_1 | ::ffff:10.21.0.5 - - [Mon, 20 Mar 2023 01:04:37 GMT] “GET /v1/bitcoind/info/status HTTP/1.1” 200 21 “-” “Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10\_15\_7) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/16.3 Safari/605.1.15”  
server\_1 |  
server\_1 | umbrel-middleware  
i2pd\_daemon\_1 | 00:05:21@150/error - NetDb: a45rymiF01eP-pSkFhLJRogQJM5UxY4jGoQLnDFec0c= destination requested, but no tunnels found  
i2pd\_daemon\_1 | 00:06:59@150/error - NetDb: og1SF~KTVbb6H5~pWTSQY-T5hhh-iZZ7BbI7CiL47s0= destination requested, but no tunnels found  
i2pd\_daemon\_1 | 00:07:15@150/error - NetDb: og1SF~KTVbb6H5~pWTSQY-T5hhh-iZZ7BbI7CiL47s0= destination requested, but no tunnels found  
i2pd\_daemon\_1 | 00:07:48@560/error - Garlic: Can’t handle ECIES-X25519-AEAD-Ratchet message  
i2pd\_daemon\_1 | 00:08:19@560/error - Garlic: Can’t handle ECIES-X25519-AEAD-Ratchet message  
i2pd\_daemon\_1 | 00:09:59@150/error - NetDb: bUdB8LwUXUNlndH18u7kkIlu-0JtuJ1I90hgIQwEnzE= destination requested, but no tunnels found  
i2pd\_daemon\_1 | 00:11:31@107/error - SSU2: RelayIntro unknown router to introduce  
i2pd\_daemon\_1 | 00:29:50@395/error - Tunnel: Tunnel with id 1653039028 already exists  
i2pd\_daemon\_1 | 00:30:25@395/error - Tunnel: Tunnel with id 195991766 already exists  
i2pd\_daemon\_1 | 00:58:02@395/error - Tunnel: Tunnel with id 517765400 already exists

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![NodeRunnerChick](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.umbrel.com/noderunnerchick/32/2852_2.png) [@NodeRunnerChick](https://community.umbrel.com/u/NodeRunnerChick)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://community.umbrel.com/t/my-node-is-permanently-syncing/11877/2 "2023-03-23T16:38:22Z")

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Anyone? Bueller?

I had to take the node down again for weather. sigh. I will get this fixed though!

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**Author:** ![beegarc](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.umbrel.com/beegarc/32/3795_2.png) [@beegarc](https://community.umbrel.com/u/beegarc)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2023, 4:20pm UTC](https://community.umbrel.com/t/my-node-is-permanently-syncing/11877/3 "2023-04-30T16:20:17Z")

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Did you get this fixed?

I have similar problems. My CPU was runing at 100% all the time, I deleted most unnecessary apps (bitfeed, mempool, etc), and cpu seems to be better now. But I still notice many errors from i2p not connecting.I seem to not find much stuff about i2p online… I’m a bit curious if the proxy constantly validatin token is normal?

Try to address each problem one by one, at some point it will get solved.

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**Author:** ![usernameisJim](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.umbrel.com/usernameisjim/32/3309_2.png) [@usernameisJim](https://community.umbrel.com/u/usernameisJim)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 4:29am UTC](https://community.umbrel.com/t/my-node-is-permanently-syncing/11877/4 "2023-05-02T04:29:15Z")

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If you check your debug logs you have the error:

> Error: Failed loading settings file:  
> bitcoind\_1 | - Unable to parse settings file /data/.bitcoin/settings.json

To resolve, first connect to your Umbrel device by following the instructions in _How to SSH into Umbrel on a Raspberry Pi_ or by accessing a terminal on your Linux machine here: [Official Umbrel Troubleshooting Guide and FAQ](http://community.umbrel.com/t/official-umbrel-troubleshooting-guide-and-faq/9873)

This command is the quickest way to resolve the error, by deleting the file first:

`rm ~umbrel/app-data/bitcoin/data/bitcoin/settings.json`

Then you should restart Bitcoin:  
`~/umbrel/scripts/app restart bitcoin`

If for any reason when attempting to delete the file you face a permission or other errors that prevent you from doing so, we can also edit the file with this command (performing this step has been more reliable then attempting the file deletion which often returns a permission denied error)

Run this command to edit/create the file:  
`sudo nano umbrel/app-data/bitcoin/data/bitcoin/settings.json`

Then it will take you to a blank file and just type and add two lines like this, with the two curly braces

```
{
}

```

then hit CTRL+X to exit, Y to save, and enter to continue.

After completing the edit don’t forget the last step of restarting Bitcoin:  
`~/umbrel/scripts/app restart bitcoin`

You can run that restart bitcoin command or within your Bitcoin Node app you can also click Save and Restart Node in Advanced Settings on the top right.

Upon restarting wait ~5 minutes and this will resolve the error with the settings.json file.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![usernameisJim](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.umbrel.com/usernameisjim/32/3309_2.png) [@usernameisJim](https://community.umbrel.com/u/usernameisJim)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 4:32am UTC](https://community.umbrel.com/t/my-node-is-permanently-syncing/11877/5 "2023-05-02T04:32:01Z")

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feel free to share your debug log @beegarcwe can see if it’s the same error or something else

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**Author:** ![Precise5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba8739/32.png) [@Precise5](https://community.umbrel.com/u/Precise5)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 8:21am UTC](https://community.umbrel.com/t/my-node-is-permanently-syncing/11877/6 "2024-07-29T08:21:30Z")

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> [@usernameisJim](#):
>
> rm ~umbrel/app-data/bitcoin/data/bitcoin/settings.json

Hello, I have a similar error, but using this command the terminal says: rm: cannot remove ‘/home/umbrel/app-data/bitcoin/data/bitcoin/settings.json’: No such file or directory

Do you know what is the issue?  
Thank you

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![usernameisJim](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.umbrel.com/usernameisjim/32/3309_2.png) [@usernameisJim](https://community.umbrel.com/u/usernameisJim)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 10:58am UTC](https://community.umbrel.com/t/my-node-is-permanently-syncing/11877/7 "2024-08-06T10:58:50Z")

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Please, just check the forum FAQ:

> [@Official umbrelOS Troubleshooting Guide and FAQ](https://community.umbrel.com/t/official-umbrelos-troubleshooting-guide-and-faq/9873):
>
> Overview This guide provides troubleshooting steps and answers to frequently asked questions for umbrelOS (updated as of umbrelOS 1.2.1) Encountering an issue with your umbrelOS server? We’ve put together a list of troubleshooting steps to help you resolve common problems. Step 1: Take a look through the guide below to see if you can find a solution to your issue. Step 2: If you cannot find a solution in this guide, search this forum and the official [Umbrel Community Discord](https://discord.gg/efNtFzqtdx) using keywords re…

@Precise5, there will be a section on Bitcoin Node,

on which screen are you stuck syncing a Bitcoin Node,

and what error are you seeing?

They’re could be a multitude of errors for a Bitcoin Node stuck on syncing,

if you are on umbrelOS please provide the version #, the error, etc.

On umbrelOS if the Bitcoin Node App screen is just blank,  
you probably just have to check our settings.json file

or something like some other error related to this App,

Please confirm those details Precice5, I’d be happy to look into it,

Or an actual current member of the Community team for Umbrel here on their forum,

i guess Bitcoin is kind of like a video game huh?

LUL

in that it’s just computer software running on a computer, just like any program haha,

Anyways, fun side tangent!

Please let the community know here, and i hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!

too-da-loo!

- from jim AKA, @usernameisJim

This is an awesome community 🙂
