bitcoind sync gets very, very slow on Augst 2023 in btc chain (maybe 2/3 progressed or something like that) #34601

issue kosuodhmwa openend this issue on February 16, 2026

kosuodhmwa commented at 7:00 pm on February 16, 2026: none
Is there an existing issue for this?
- I have searched the existing issues
Current behaviour

bitcoind sync gets very, very slow on Augst 2023 in BTC chain (maybe 2/3 progressed or something like that)

Earlier (e.g. first sync in 2024), it was faster, but i also used another version there. the version i use now, is v30.99.0-0ffb20dee178 (self-compiled from master branch)

AND: i also changed my HW: From SSD SATA on LSI SATA-3 controller to a Seagate video SATA-33 HDD on UBS 2.0 controller (because it can bypass the to VM on VirtualBox 7.2.x on MS Window$ (maybe on Linux, i would be able to bypass PCI SATA devices or VHD files in a raw mode - but on Windows, PCIE SATA bypass is not supported and VHD file raw mode is not cleanly implemented. So i need to use USB drives to bypass it completely/in a raw mode)

(But i don’t think that is the problem TBH)

Currently, it needs ~1 day for 1 day in block chain: On 2026-02-06, on blockchain it was on 2023-08-05 and now we have 2026-02-16 and blockchain sync is on 2023-08-19. Which means, it will result in an infinite process

Expected behaviour

Should be synced in maybe 2-3 weeks maximum so i think, similar to the last sync (2024 when i remember right? But it was another version, don’t know that’s the reason or not?).

Steps to reproduce

bitcoind sync gets very, very slow on Augst 2023 in BTC chain (maybe 2/3 progressed or something like that)

Earlier (e.g. first sync in 2024), it was faster, but i also used another version there. the version i use now, is v30.99.0-0ffb20dee178

AND: i also changed my HW: From SSD SATA on LSI SATA-3 controller to a Seagate video SATA-33 HDD on UBS 2.0 controller (because it can bypass the to VM on VirtualBox 7.2.x on MS Window$ (maybe on Linux, i would be able to baypass PCI SATA devices or VHD files in a raw mode - but on Windows, PCIE SATA bypass is not supported and bypass file raw mode is not cleanly implemented. So i need to use USB drives to bypass it completely/in a raw mode)

(But i don’t think that is the problem TBH)

Currently, it needs ~1 day for 1 day in block chain: On 2026-02-06, on blockchain it was on 2023-08-05 and now we have 2026-02-16 and blockchain sync is on 2023-08-19. Which means, it will result in an infinite process

Relevant log output

How did you obtain Bitcoin Core

Compiled from source

What version of Bitcoin Core are you using?

v30.99.0-0ffb20dee178

Operating system and version

Debian 12.x x64, most current version, with most current updates

Machine specifications

PRIMERGY TX120 S3 Server with 4-core (8 virt. Cores) Xeon, 32GB of RAM
kosuodhmwa commented at 7:01 pm on February 16, 2026: none

PS: I was not able to attach zipped debug log here. Got an error message…

HERE, because of that issue: https://limewire.com/d/5xAA1#NmroMAVYvc
sipa commented at 7:08 pm on February 16, 2026: member

What is your dbcache setting set to?
sipa commented at 7:13 pm on February 16, 2026: member

Based on your debug.log, it looks like you have the default dbcache setting, 450 MiB. With that much RAM, I recommend setting it to dbcache=10000 or so, to cache most of the chainstate in memory.
l0rinc commented at 7:17 pm on February 16, 2026: contributor

to cache most of the chainstate in memory

Yeah, especially for a HDD through a USB 2.

the version i use now, is v30.99.0-0ffb20dee178

That very recent, basically a month old: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/commit/0ffb20dee17858e0f13b23fce3dd0ec06cbeb9a2
kosuodhmwa commented at 7:50 pm on February 16, 2026: none

Thank you very much for your fast feedback! :-)

bitcoin.conf’s content:

´´´ root@debian12-btc-node:~/.bitcoin# cat bitcoin.conf

— Core —

server=1 txindex=1 disablewallet=1

— Netzwerk —

listen=1 bind=127.0.0.1 #bind=192.168.1.174 rpcbind=127.0.0.1 #rpcbind=192.168.1.174

— RPC / REST (für lnd) —

rpcuser=….. rpcpassword=….. rpcallowip=127.0.0.1 #rpcallowip=192.168.1.174 #rpcallowip=192.168.1.0/24 rest=1

— Whitelisting —

whitelist=127.0.0.1 #whitelist=192.168.1.174 #whitelist=192.168.1.0/24

— Tor —

proxy=127.0.0.1:9050 listenonion=1 onlynet=onion

— Pfade —

datadir=/root/.bitcoin ´´´

“That very recent, basically a month old: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/commit/0ffb20dee17858e0f13b23fce3dd0ec06cbeb9a2"

Yes, i also had the same problem before with a version that was a few monts old. Because of that, i used the latest master branch when i tried to solve the problem a few weeks ago.
kosuodhmwa commented at 7:51 pm on February 16, 2026: none

OK, so i will cancel the process now, the add “dbcache=10000”, then start it again… :-)
kosuodhmwa commented at 7:54 pm on February 16, 2026: none

so bitcoind.conf is now like that:

´´´

— Core —

server=1 txindex=1 disablewallet=1 dbcache=10000

— Netzwerk —

… … … ´´´