Can you connect a harddrive with the blockchain on it to a newly installed node?
25 sats \ 7 comments \ @LIGHT21 21 Mar bitcoin

This is definitely a newbie question and I most likely already know the answer too it but...

Can you connect a fully synchronized harddrive with the blockchain on it to a newly (soon to be) configured Node?

Some background infos: I already have a running node but on windows. Now, I was thinking off installing it on my Rasberry Pi 4 but I dont want to buy a new harddrive for it. So the question came up; Can i just swap them? I think the answer might be no...right?

Thanks in advanced :)

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17.6k sats \ 4 replies \ @DarthCoin 21 Mar
  1. On a RPI the OS would be linux. And will not use the same file system as windows. On RPi the drive must be EXT4 format not NTFS (windows).
  2. In theory it could be read by the linux OS but you will have to do some linux guru commands to mount that NTFS drive as node data location, with the whole path.

What I would suggest:

  • buy a new drive for the node
  • keep the old windows node running and syncing, even as a backup
  • once your new node is ready, point to your local windows node, using the local IP to sync from it. Or just copy the bitcoin data folder from the old to the new one, using a Linux OS because windows will not use EXT4 partition.
  • is always good to have a backup of your blockchain data and / or even continue syncing.
0 sats \ 3 replies \ @LIGHT21OP 21 Mar

True, forgot about the file formats. I m guessing, trying to format every file from a EXT4 to a NTFS would take me as long/ if not longer than just downloading/ validating the blockchain on to a new SSD.

But hold on why should I point to my windows node when the new node is ready synced? is this for backup reasons?

I m new to linux so bare with me.. so you are saying if I copy the bitcoin data folder from the hard drive of my windows node to my RPI OS would that ease the process?

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @ekzyis 22 Mar

trying to format every file from a EXT4 to a NTFS would take me as long/ if not longer than just downloading/ validating the blockchain on to a new SSD.

I don't think so. It's just copying data without validation.

why should I point to my windows node when the new node is ready synced?

I think @DarthCoin meant to connect to your windows node using -addnode because then you download (and validate) from a local node which is faster than downloading from peers all over the world. I think with "ready" he didn't mean "ready synced". Just ready for downloading.

3 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin 22 Mar

Exactly that. Thanks for clarifications.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @LIGHT21OP 22 Mar

Ah i see, thanks!

0 sats \ 1 replies \ @Wumbo 21 Mar

Not an expert (someone more knowledgeable will likely comment) but one possible issue I can see is what file type the Hard drive is using (FAT32,NTFS,etc..) and is that compatible with Raspberry Pi.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @LIGHT21OP 21 Mar

yep, i think that's the "biggest" problem here.