[Ethereum] What does ‘startingBlock` mean in `eth.syncing`

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First time geth user here. I'm trying to do some analysis on transactions on the mainnet and for that I need all the blocks since the beginning of time. When I just ran geth with no parameters, it looks like it is starting from only block 3280013 but I want it to start from block 1:

EDIT: I am looking for clarification of what startingBlock means, not how to download the whole blockchain and how --fast helps. This is not a duplicate.

Will it still work and will I get block data from the beginning of time?

Thanks!

Best Answer

Straight from the docs here

Returns

Object|Boolean - A sync object as follows, when the node is currently syncing or false:

startingBlock: Number - The block number where the sync started. currentBlock: Number - The block number where at which block the node currently synced to already. highestBlock: Number - The estimated block number to sync to.

So it has nothing to do with the block from which geth will sync but rather the block at which the sync started. For instance, if you stopped syncing at 3500000 exclusive by turning your node off and then resumed, your startingBlock would be 3500000.

Related Solutions

Go-Ethereum – Geth Fast Sync is Not Really Fast on Mac

If your Mac has a regular hard drive (as opposed to SSD), it will definitely take a very long time. If you can't get a computer with an SSD, one thing I found that helped was this:

When you start geth use the --verbosity flag with a value of 5. This will spit out tons of text. It won't speed up your sync, but it will help you to understand that the node is not hung (because the text will continue to scroll by).

What happened to me is that I was repeatedly starting and stopping geth because it looked like it was hung, but every time I killed it, it would have to start over on the same block that was taking so long. And, even if it got past that one block, the next block would make it look like it was hung.

With the verbosity flag on, you will see that geth is not hung, so it's easier to allow it to continue operating until it finishes.

I know this seems like an odd suggestion, but it worked for me, and eventually I did get it to sync on a non-SSD computer. It took a very long time.

But I would strongly recommend getting a computer with an SSD.

Geth Fast Sync – How to Solve Sync Restarting from 0 Issue

the synchronization has failed (and maybe it will fail in the next sync), try to update your geth then try to use :

geth removedb

geth upgradedb

then wait for the chain to resync.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Go-Ethereum – Geth Fast Sync is Not Really Fast on Mac

Geth Fast Sync – How to Solve Sync Restarting from 0 Issue

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