miner.start(1) triggers but not starting the mining

Question

I am creating my own private ethereum blockchain.

sudo geth --rpcapi eth,web3,personal --rpc --networkid=15

Above command gives the below logs.

INFO [09-18|10:16:42.151] Maximum peer count                       ETH=25 LES=0 total=25
INFO [09-18|10:16:42.153] Starting peer-to-peer node               instance=Geth/v1.8.15-stable-89451f7c/linux-amd64/go1.10
INFO [09-18|10:16:42.153] Allocated cache and file handles         database=/home/blockchain/.ethereum/geth/chaindata cache=768 handles=512
INFO [09-18|10:16:42.171] Initialised chain configuration          config="{ChainID: 1 Homestead: 1150000 DAO: 1920000 DAOSupport: true EIP150: 2463000 EIP155: 2675000 EIP158: 2675000 Byzantium: 4370000 Constantinople: <nil> Engine: ethash}"
INFO [09-18|10:16:42.171] Disk storage enabled for ethash caches   dir=/home/blockchain/.ethereum/geth/ethash count=3
INFO [09-18|10:16:42.171] Disk storage enabled for ethash DAGs     dir=/home/blockchain/.ethash               count=2
INFO [09-18|10:16:42.171] Initialising Ethereum protocol           versions="[63 62]" network=15
INFO [09-18|10:16:42.173] Loaded most recent local header          number=0 hash=d4e567…cb8fa3 td=17179869184
INFO [09-18|10:16:42.173] Loaded most recent local full block      number=0 hash=d4e567…cb8fa3 td=17179869184
INFO [09-18|10:16:42.173] Loaded most recent local fast block      number=0 hash=d4e567…cb8fa3 td=17179869184
INFO [09-18|10:16:42.174] Loaded local transaction journal         transactions=0 dropped=0
INFO [09-18|10:16:42.174] Regenerated local transaction journal    transactions=0 accounts=0
INFO [09-18|10:16:42.174] Starting P2P networking
INFO [09-18|10:16:46.891] UDP listener up                          self=enode://e919e98154dcddc4e6e6f847332795cbaf072607e410c2330702d3b66b4219eb98c4ebf39dc1ee2b21af74049926a5fb646542636f8835eb420157d825cc3102@[::]:30303
INFO [09-18|10:16:46.892] RLPx listener up                         self=enode://e919e98154dcddc4e6e6f847332795cbaf072607e410c2330702d3b66b4219eb98c4ebf39dc1ee2b21af74049926a5fb646542636f8835eb420157d825cc3102@[::]:30303
INFO [09-18|10:16:46.896] IPC endpoint opened                      url=/home/blockchain/.ethereum/geth.ipc
INFO [09-18|10:16:46.897] HTTP endpoint opened                     url=http://127.0.0.1:8545               cors= vhosts=localhost
INFO [09-18|10:16:59.561] Etherbase automatically configured       address=0xa76D511FCddEB3bCCa1Eb5B6bf4EC39a8d95668d

Then i trigger miner.start(1) by getting geth console using sudo geth attach ../.ethereum/geth.ipc so it adds below lines in above logs.

INFO [09-18|10:18:06.859] Updated mining threads                   threads=1
INFO [09-18|10:18:06.860] Transaction pool price threshold updated price=1000000000
INFO [09-18|10:18:06.860] Commit new mining work                   number=1 sealhash=d91037…57fc0d uncles=0 txs=0 gas=0 fees=0 elapsed=648.451µs

And after this nothing happens.

FYI, miner.start(1) returns null but that is not a problem i guess.

Could you please give me some hints so that i can do possible workarounds to make mining start.

Answer 1

The comment from @Briomkez is a correct start - when running the geth command, it is showing that you've connected to ChainID: 1 which is not correct - it's not your private network.

To start a private network, create your genesis file (I like to use puppeth).

Once you've created your genesis file, run geth init, importantly here - define a datadir

geth --datadir test init ./testpow.json

This will "create a database that uses this genesis block, run the following command. This will import and set the canonical genesis block for your chain" - https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Private-network

Now run the same command you included above, but again include the datadir here ->

geth --datadir test --rpcapi eth,web3,personal --rpc --networkid=15

when you run this command - it will show you the ipc file that is being used across from the line item:

Make sure you use this IPC when you run geth attach

Once in the console - assuming you have an account created and unlocked you can run miner.start(1) otherwise you may need to run personal.newAccount to create an account for mining before running miner.start(1)

You can also use these flags to start mining from your geth command -unlock '0xaddress' --password ./password.txt --mine

Answer 2

you can try use this command(rm -rf $HOME/.ethash) before your start the geth. here is detail

Answer 3

If you are using windows with a custom datadir like I am. It turns out the Ethash still lives here: C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData. My resolution was to delete the contents of this directory, instead of my datadir. There may be an equivalent in a linux environment. Reference your IPC Channel startup feedback:

[2019.02.19-11:16:04.464350]: INFO [02-19|11:16:02] Starting peer-to-peer node instance=Geth/v1.7.3-stable-4bb3c89d/windows-amd64/go1.9. [2019.02.19-11:16:04.474094]: INFO [02-19|11:16:02] Allocated cache and file handles database=C:\\DTS\\Ledgers\\1111\\Ledger\\geth\\chaindata cache=128 handles=1024. [2019.02.19-11:16:04.485756]: INFO [02-19|11:16:02] Initialised chain configuration config="{ChainID: 1111 Homestead: 0 DAO: <nil> DAOSupport: false EIP150: <nil> EIP155: 0 EIP158: 0 Byzantium: <nil> Engine: unknown}". [2019.02.19-11:16:04.491861]: INFO [02-19|11:16:02] Disk storage enabled for ethash caches dir=C:\\DTS\\Ledgers\\1111\\Ledger\\geth\\ethash count=3. [2019.02.19-11:16:04.497462]: INFO [02-19|11:16:02] Disk storage enabled for ethash DAGs dir=C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\config\\systemprofile\\AppData\\Ethash count=2. [2019.02.19-11:16:04.503220]: INFO [02-19|11:16:02] Initialising Ethereum protocol versions="[63 62]" network=1111. [2019.02.19-11:16:04.508075]: INFO [02-19|11:16:02] Loaded most recent local header number=0 hash=95ae19…a63ec2 td=0. [2019.02.19-11:16:04.512925]: INFO [02-19|11:16:02] Loaded most recent local full block number=0 hash=95ae19…a63ec2 td=0. [2019.02.19-11:16:04.518492]: INFO [02-19|11:16:02] Loaded most recent local fast block number=0 hash=95ae19…a63ec2 td=0. [2019.02.19-11:16:04.523792]: INFO [02-19|11:16:02] Loaded local transaction journal transactions=1 dropped=0. [2019.02.19-11:16:04.528894]: INFO [02-19|11:16:02] Regenerated local transaction journal transactions=1 accounts=1.

Specifically notice: C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Ethash