I have a few things to try if you are getting hit with the Chia Zombie connection attack and on a default config

If you are seeing just 8-12 connections in a default config and are seeing missed signage points (and you have not edited your config.yaml ever) then you might try these few changes to grow your connection pool and get out of the Zombie Dust apocalypse. Last night I tossed my unaffected config.yaml and reverted to a default config and this morning was greeted with a bunch of skipped signage points, which I expected. If you have a large connection pool, and have been up and running for a while you are likely OK so dont touch anything. You might check your logs to see if you are piling up missed signage points.

I do dislike whoever did this, but damn they got timing. So far I am back to 36 connections and not getting staled out so 3 hours in and this is holding so far. Really feel for folks on marginal systems that might be getting hit hard right now.

Here are some introducers to add back in when you are back up after saving config.yaml and restarting.

North Asia introducer-apne.chia.net:8444
South Asia introducer-apse.chia.net:8444
Western North America: introducer-or.chia.net:8444
Eastern North America introducer-va.chia.net:8444
Europe: introducer-eu.chia.net:8444

North America: node-or.chia.net:8444
Europe: node-eu.chia.net:8444
Asia: node-apne.chia.net:8444

1 Like

What are signage points, and which log contains messages that would reveal if I am piling up missed signage points?

Does this usage of the word “pool” have anything to do with joining a Chia pool?
I farm solo. So does this pertain to me?

If it is related to connecting to peers for keeping in sync, then is my “connection pool” referring to my peers and I keeping each other in sync? And if yes, how can I confirm that I am “likely OK”?

How do I check to see if I am getting “stalled out”?

Which logs should I check for the above items, and what messages should I search for, for each of my questions, above?

This might seem basic for some, but it is something that I am unfamiliar with. I just start my GUI, and everything appears to work. I am not well versed on the intricacies of Chia. But I would like to review the items you commented on, to ensure that I am not unknowingly, adversely affected. But I need help in understanding the terms, and how to check each item.

Thank you.

https://www.chiablockchain.com/2021/04/28/winning-process-explained/

“Each plot has a unique plotID. Every 8 seconds, there is a signage point (sp) where the harvester checks if any of your plots are eligible for farming based on plot ID and that signage point. It looks up a random value called the quality string (qs) from part of the plot for those that are. Quality string is a small part of the whole proof, and it’s like your lottery ticket. You combine that with the signage point again to generate another random number H ( qa + sp ) = ( hashing the lottery drawing with lottery ticket ). The hash value gives you a completely random number between 0 and 1. If you are really close to 0, you win (based on the current difficulty) and if it wins, it then fetches the whole proof from the disk. This hopefully help you understand why you see the “Plots passed filter” on the Farm page.”

“Each sub-slot in the challenge and reward chains is divided into 64, smaller, VDFs, and between each of these small VDFs is a point called a signage point. Timelords publish the VDF output and proof when they reach each signage point. Note that both the challenge chain and the reward chains have signage points (but not the infused challenge chain). The number of iterations between each signage point is sp interval iterations, which is equal to sub slot iterations / 64.”

Info about them is in normal Chia log but it has to be set to INFO. Most of the time I have ~ 90-98% of signage points in order. But not today :wink:

2 Likes

Your first question was expertly answered below so I will leave that.

Pool in the sense of your connections to peers, not like a pool like flexpool. If solo, you are effected also in the first sense I mentioned if you snag a bunch of dead weight connections and/or have low powered hardware.

It is really hard unfortunately to assess the impact if you are solo and not using log monitoring stuff, which I am with Machinaris as it is build in. I am solo also so this is like not good especially here.

First things first, dont reboot your client if you can help it.

Looking for missed signage points is important in the logs. As stated below check if you have INFO level enabled, possibly also a nice time to install chiadog as well.

Here is some low hanging fruit. Take a screenshot of your connections. Leave for 5 minutes. Compare it when back. If you have connections that have numbers that have not changed, kick them.

1 Like

Thank you. But I am still not clear on which log I should check for signage issues, and what search term to look for in the log that would reveal a signage issue.

I like your suggestion of taking a screen shot. That is the kind of suggestion that I understand and will do.

find debug.log

.chia/mainnet/log/debug.log

set it to INFO

look for this:
…
:timer_clock: Finished signage point 61/64:
:timer_clock: Finished signage point 62/64:
:timer_clock: Finished signage point 63/64:

they should be in order from 1/64 to 63/64

then you will have one:

:timer_clock: Finished sub slot, SP 64/64,

and again:

:timer_clock: Finished signage point 1/64:
:timer_clock: Finished signage point 2/64:
:timer_clock: Finished signage point 3/64:
…

OR

instal farmr app and you will get all this statistic in one place with easy access via web browser

LOL I only get 8 peers since April. I got tired finding solution. I don’t miss sinage points and regularly sending partials to pools with just 1% stale sometimes.