Saving ether from a corrupt ether wallet

Question

I have just recently opened a MyEtherWallet but I am having trouble. Can the wallets be corrupted? Is the ether lost or can it be saved?

I have successfully been able to send ether to the wallet address. I thought the wallet was working and so I sent some more ether. The account shows the full amount of ether sent.

However when I try to send ether from the wallet to another address the generate transaction button doesn't work.

As far as address to send to - I have tried the Donation button; I have tried the address from the Ether exchange I used to receive the ether in the first place; I have tried the DAO address. None has worked.

I have tried clearing my cache. This didn't change anything.

I also tried the method using off-line send transaction - both JSON and plain text private key - and both returned this message...

TypeError: Object.assign is not a function

Is there another method to use to remove the ether from the wallet? Could using Mist work or is the wallet corrupt? Is there a way to extract the ether from the wallet?

Is there something I can do to fix this? At the very least I would want to be ably to send the ether back to the exchange address.

Many thanks,

Daryl Watson

Answer 1

Yes, wallet files can be corrupted however, if the wallet was corrupt, you would not be able to decrypt / access it, so that is not the issue.

I'm waiting on kvhnuke to get off work to see if he can figure out what else would be causing this issue beside (1) connectivity issues and (2) firewall. The only time I have encountered the "Generate Wallet" button not doing anything is when the computer is disconnected from the internet. However, it then throws the Failed to load resource: net::ERR_INTERNET_DISCONNECTED error in the console, not the Object.assign error.

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Edit: we at MyEtherWallet.com pushed a fix last night to solve this problem and I've confirmed with OP that it's solved. The problem had to do with an es6 method that wasnt properly polyfilled during the compilation process and since OP was using a slightly older version of Chrome, he was getting this error. Leaving my original text here for reference.

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If you want to import your wallet into Mist, yes. Here are the steps:

Using an Geth/Mist JSON file from MyEtherWallet v2+....

1. Go to the View Wallet Info Tab.

2. Unlock your wallet using your ENCRYPTED private key or JSON file.

3. On the right hand side, look for Download JSON file - Geth/Mist Format (encrypted). Press the DOWNLOAD button below that. You now have your keystore file.

4. Open the Ethereum Wallet application.

5. In the menu bar, go "Accounts" -> "Backup" -> "Accounts"

6. This will open your keystore folder. Copy the file you just downloaded (UTC--2016-04-14........) into that keystore folder.

7. Your account should show up immediately under "Accounts."

Using your unencrypted private key...

1. If you do not already have your unencrypted private key, navigate to the "View Wallet Details" tab.

2. Select your wallet file -or- enter/paste your private key to unlock your wallet.

3. Copy Your Private Key (unencrypted).

If you are on a Mac:

1. Open Text Edit and paste this private key.

2. Go to the menu bar and click "Format" -> "Make Plain Text".

3. Save this file to your desktop as nothing_special_delete_me.txt. Make sure it says "UTF-8" and "If no extension is provided use .txt" in the save dialog.

4. Open terminal and run the following command: geth account import ~/Desktop/nothing_special_delete_me.txt

5. This will prompt you to make a new password. This is the password you will use in geth / Ethereum Wallet / Mist whenever you send a transaction, so don't forget it.

6. Delete the nothing_special_delete_me.txt from your desktop.

7. It should show up immediately. If it doesn't the next time you open the Ethereum Wallet application, your account will be listed under "Accounts".

If you are on a PC:

1. Open Notepad & paste the private key into notepad.

2. Save the file as nothing_special_delete_me.txt at C:\

3. Run the command, geth account import C:\nothing_special_delete_me.txt

4. This will prompt you to make a new password. This is the password you will use in geth / Ethereum Wallet / Mist whenever you send a transaction, so don't forget it.

5. After successful import, delete the file at C:\nothing_special_delete_me.txt

6. The next time you open the Ethereum Wallet application, your account will be listed under "Accounts".