Mist: The syncing process really needs work

[Swift42]

Version: `0.9.0`
OS & Version: windows/linux/osx
Node version: `geth 1.6.7` 

The syncing process of the wallet/geth really needs work:

Fast syncing is nice, but it has a huge drawback: When the sync ends (end of blockchain reached), the sync will switch to full sync forever. Fast-syncing is automatically disabled if a (at least once) synced blockchain is found.

This results in this weird thing:

Let's say that I fast sync the blockchain and interrupt the fast sync at block 4.000.000. Then I make a backup of the chaindata, which is still in fast-sync-state.

Then I let the wallet fast sync the missing blockchain and it is now in full sync.

Now I don't run the wallet for some weeks and I need to full sync e.g. 100.000 blocks. This is VERY slow.

But now I use a trick: I delete the chaindata and restore it with the backuped chaindata which is still in fast-sync-state.

Now the syncing is MUCH faster!

Suggestion: Change the syncing process in a way that this trick is not needed anymore.
Or did I missed something somewhere?

And by the way: The selection of the sync modes is not very user friendly ... it would be nice if the wallet would ask the user at the first start if he wants a full, fast or light sync. Each option should have an easy-to-understand description.
For most users a light sync would be the best option, but currently a user needs to know about the light sync in advance AND use command-line(!) parameter "-node-light" to get the light sync, which is a no-go for the standard user.

[incompletude]

It would be nice if the sync process worked at all. I have deleted my chaindata folder to get a new sync at least 100 times already because at some point it gets stuck. So shitty. I'm being forced to use a non secure third party to move funds fast because the ethereum wallet is not reliable.

[tdbe]

I honestly don't understand how any of the dev team use their own product. Do they have terabytes of super fast PCI slot SSD space? The wallet is impossible to sync on a HDD.

You can't use the currency if you can't after [any amount of days] just open it up and do a transaction in minutes.

You are forcing 99% of people to keep their ether on exchanges, and that's insecure, and if they lose their money your platform ultimately gets hurt.

[jrsikors]

thumbs up to this. I've been battling for weeks now. Have deleted my /geth/ folder numerous times.

At this point I just want my ETH to show up in my wallet so I can send it somewhere else. I didn't think it would be this complicated / difficult ! I had downloaded 8 other coin wallets in the past few months and had problems with 0 of them. I had success / learning experience with those, so I decided to give Mist a shot, knowing that the Ethereum blockchain was incredibly larger than the other alt coins.

[Swift42]

There is another problem with full and fast sync:
Obviously you need a specific amount of CPU power to accomplish the sync.
E.g. if I sync with a Celeron N3150 quad-core processor, the CPU output seems to be exactly on the threshold:
The fast sync tries to catch up with the blockchain, but it always barely misses it:
The chain structure fills, then the blockchain fills.
But this then seems to be not fast enough, so again the chain structure fills, the blockchain fills and so on.
And with much, much luck it then catches up after some hours or days(!).
A SSD drive helps, but here the CPU is clearly the bottleneck.
So I ended up with light sync. This syncs without problems and is REALLY fast.
And if this wouldn't be enough problems, the wallet prevents a light sync (see #2999 ) since geth 1.6.0(!).

This makes me sad. The developers currently seem to ignore the fact, that the syncing is one of the most important parts of the wallet/geth. And it doesn't help if it works on the developer machine but 1000 other users have severe problems with syncing.
And the solution can't be: use Parity

Sigh. I hope with Metropolis everything will get better.

[robvann2]

FYI, I came to understand that the horsepower of your PC makes a BIG DIFFERENCE in the sync times. I was frustrated using my $500 personal PC taking a week or so to create the initial blockchain and/or import it. Amazingly when I tried my $2000 work PC which has lots more memory and cpu power, it took about an hour!

[tdbe]

@robvann2 I have an [email protected] (laptop), 16 gigs of ram. I can sync the wallet in 3 days on an SSD and in 1 week on a HDD. (non stop keeping it running)