importaddress error (p2sh) #12824

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I tried the rpc command: bitcoin-cli importaddress <P2SH ADDRESS> true true only to receive the error:

error: couldn't connect to server: unknown (code -1) (make sure server is running and you are connecting to the correct RPC port)

After adding empty quotes for my label parameter, a different error occurred:

error code: -5 error message: Cannot use the p2sh flag with an address - use a script instead

I am running 0.16.0 on Ubuntu.

Am I not able to simply give it the address?

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try this bitcoin-cli importaddress <P2SH ADDRESS>

Is this also true on master (i.e. after #12652)?

@ken2812221, that did not work. I get the same "couldn't connect" error. @MarcoFalke, I guess I wouldn't know. I use the ppa to update upon new releases. Can I pull from master if I use the ppa?

I cant reproduce Are you sure the server was running? Did other calls before that call succeed?

Yes to both.

Interestingly enough, even with those errors, it seemed to work?! I was simply calling 'getbalance', without any parameters, which wasn't showing me the watch-only balance, while if, and only if, I put all of the parameters in, the watch-only balance shows as well.

It doesn't make sense that getbalance works and importaddress doesn't, when invoked in the same environment.

If bitcoin-cli can't connect to bitcoind that means something goes wrong before the RPC command is even sent, so it should be happening across all RPCs.

Is this still an issue with a recent version of Bitcoin Core? If yes, what are the steps to reproduce?