nodejs and web3: Unhandled rejection Error: Transaction was not mined within 50 blocks, please make sure your transaction was properly send

Question

I am trying to send ETH from one of my account to another with web3 from nodejs:

    web3.eth.personal.unlockAccount(config.mainGethAccount, config.gethPassword, function () {
        console.log("sendingTransaction: " + config.mainGethAccount);
        let obj = {
            from: config.mainGethAccount,
            to: newAccountId,
            value: web3.utils.toWei(.005, 'ether')
        };
        console.log("obj",obj);
        web3.eth.sendTransaction(obj).then(function (receipt) {
            done(newAccountId,config.userAccountGethPassword);
        });
    });

my web3 object is ok, it is able to create new account, but it crashes in .sendTransaction and ETH are actually never transferred:

sendingTransaction: 0x6c92C4201bBaFE97011C9EA9144c907Fd16F5089
[2017-08-01 03:21:46.240] [LOG]   obj { from: '0x6c92C4201bBaFE97011C9EA9144c907Fd16F5089',
  to: '0x2628fCe3675f25F94f06E1F0EE2c782be40fa6c8',
  value: '5000000000000000' }
[2017-08-01 03:22:46.040] [WARN]  Unhandled rejection Error: Transaction was not mined within 50 blocks, please make sure your transaction was properly send. Be aware that it might still be mined!
    at C:\tmp\qqq\node_modules\web3\packages\web3-core-method\src\index.js:362:45
    at tryCatcher (C:\tmp\qqq\node_modules\web3\packages\web3-core-promievent\node_modules\bluebird\js\release\util.js:16:23)
    at Promise._settlePromiseFromHandler (C:\tmp\qqq\node_modules\web3\packages\web3-core-promievent\node_modules\bluebird\js\release\promise.js:497:31)
    at Promise._settlePromise (C:\tmp\qqq\node_modules\web3\packages\web3-core-promievent\node_modules\bluebird\js\release\promise.js:555:18)
    at Promise._settlePromise0 (C:\tmp\qqq\node_modules\web3\packages\web3-core-promievent\node_modules\bluebird\js\release\promise.js:600:10)
    at Promise._settlePromises (C:\tmp\qqq\node_modules\web3\packages\web3-core-promievent\node_modules\bluebird\js\release\promise.js:679:18)
    at Async._drainQueue (C:\tmp\qqq\node_modules\web3\packages\web3-core-promievent\node_modules\bluebird\js\release\async.js:125:16)
    at Async._drainQueues (C:\tmp\qqq\node_modules\web3\packages\web3-core-promievent\node_modules\bluebird\js\release\async.js:135:10)
    at Immediate.Async.drainQueues (C:\tmp\qqq\node_modules\web3\packages\web3-core-promievent\node_modules\bluebird\js\release\async.js:16:14)
    at runCallback (timers.js:672:20)
    at tryOnImmediate (timers.js:645:5)

The most interesting thing is that it works from time to time. But is it possible to fix it?

Answer 1

What test-net were you using at this point? If it was the Ropsten test-net around July 31st (when your question was asked), this test-net was under attack and it would not confirm any transactions.

So chances are your code is fine, it was the network. You can try using the Rinkeby or Kovan testnets to confirm this. Also, Ropsten should be working fine now, just note that is has issues from time to time.

Answer 2

If it works from time to time, odds are you are setting the gas price too low. If you have the cash or on the testnet, just jack up the gas price and you'll see it fly through. For instance on ropsten, I place the gas price at 300 gWei sometimes just so I can get included instantly

Answer 3

Finally solved it: For me the source of this obscure error was that signing key belonged to the receiver! The api does NOT detect if implicit signing_key address!=sender field!

Another problem here was mixing hex and int, and a missing parseInt value: web3.toHex(parseInt(web3.utils.toWei(.005, 'ether')))

Now I still get occasional time outs but after a minute at least they show up in the transaction log.

Worst api ever

Answer 4

Please correct me, if this needs to be done manually here, but try also adding the nonce:

let obj = {
            from: config.mainGethAccount,
            to: newAccountId,
            nonce: web3.toHex(web3.eth.getTransactionCount(config.mainGethAccount)),
            value: web3.utils.toWei(.005, 'ether')
        };

EDIT: As the error seemed to persist, here a more thorough explanation on sending raw transactions. I like using promises here, also not using an account stored in the node (as you're then tied to it), but signing it with a private key myself, so i'm flexible to use infura, for example.

var EthTx = require("ethereumjs-tx");
const Web3 = require("web3");

if (typeof web3 !== 'undefined') {
    web3 = new Web3(web3.currentProvider);
} else {
    // Use the provider from the config.
    web3 = new Web3(new Web3.providers.HttpProvider('http://localhost:8545')); //your node url or infura 

promisedSendRawTransaction = function (serializedTx) {
    return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
        web3.eth.sendRawTransaction(serializedTx, function (e, data) {
            if (e !== null) {
                console.log(e);
                reject(e);
            } else {
                resolve(data);
            }
        });
    });
};

                var pKey1 = "yourPrivateKey";
                var pKey1x = new Buffer(pKey1, "hex");

                var rawTx = {
                nonce: web3.toHex(web3.eth.getTransactionCount(addr1)),  
                to: theAddress,
                value: web3.toHex(theValue),  
                gasPrice: web3.toHex(22000000000),  
                gas: web3.toHex(900000),
                gasLimit: web3.toHex(4700000)
                }

                var tx = new EthTx(rawTx);
                tx.sign(pKey1x);
                console.log("This is the raw tx: " + tx);
                var serializedTx = "0x" + tx.serialize().toString('hex');

                console.log("The tx now looks like this " + serializedTx);

                console.log("Now sending the full tx.");

                promisedSendRawTransaction(serializedTx).then(function(data){
                    console.log("Tx ID" + data);
                }

Answer 5

Include a try/catch block like this:

 try {
           web3.eth.sendTransaction(obj).then(function (receipt) {
             done(newAccountId,config.userAccountGethPassword);
          });
        } catch (err) {
            if (err.includes('not mined within 50 blocks')) {
                const handle = setInterval(() => {
                    web3.eth.getTransactionReceipt(err.response.transactionHash).then((resp)
=> {
                        if (resp != null && resp.blockNumber > 0) {
                            clearInterval(handle);
                            web3.eth.sendTransaction(obj).then(function (receipt) {
                            done(newAccountId,config.userAccountGethPassword);
                            continue;
                        }
                    });
                },3000);
            } else {
                console.error(err.response);
            }
        }