Since the recent evil nodes attack and the consequent release of Monero 0.17, we started seeing some users getting corrupted wallet files. On very strange, unusual conditions (since Monerujo is such a perfectly coded piece of software) it may happen that you encounter a message such as this when you try to open one of your wallets:
Connection to node failed! — check username/password
It has nothing to do with the connection, nor with your username or password. We have a hunch it’s related to some nodes providing contradictory information, which when incorporated to the wallet files on your phone, turn them crazy so to speak (it’s a technical term), so that they lose touch with reality and refuse to be opened afterwards.
But fear not! Your funds are safu. There’s a simple solution that will get you and your favorite secret money back in track in no time.
The solution
Your mission Ethan, if you choose to accept it, is to reset your wallet. To do so, click on the three dots menu next to your wallet’s name on the main screen. Then choose Reset wallet!
Take a moment to read the warning. It tells you that by doing this, you’ll lose all the local information about the wallet that doesn’t come from the Monero blockchain itself. Since the wallet file was corrupted, what Monerujo will do is delete the cache file and create a new one, so you can use your wallet again. That local information you’ll lose is everything you entered by yourself using the wallet, for example notes on particular transactions, or the names you choose for subaddresses or accounts. All those subaddresses and accounts will re-appear, but they won’t be beautifully customized.
Click on I get it! and then YES DO THAT!
If it works
You can now triumphantly swipe your sweat out of your forehead and call it a day. You’re almost a badass-level hacker. Put some stickers in your laptop and grab a glass of Tschunk.
If it doesn’t work
Well… this is awkward. Write to us at help@monerujo.io and we’ll try to troubleshoot it together. Please don’t delete your wallet, or uninstall Monerujo, or violently throw your phone against your wall, it will only make things worse.
Please remember Monerujo is made by a *very* small group of merry pirates and it’s open source, free software. Donate you ungrateful bastard! (once we get your wallet working again, of course)
How to avoid it next time
Sadly, you can’t totally erase the possibility of your wallet file getting corrupted in the future. But you can minimize the loss of that valuable metadata on your Monero usage. To do so, you can backup your wallet files.
Doing so is very easy. Just click on the wallet’s dots menu on the main screen, and choose Backup. It will ask where in the phone’s storage do you want to put the backup file, and that’s all. Monerujo will create a zip file that contains your wallet files, with all the extra information, up to this moment you’re doing the backup, of course. So you may want to do this as often as you’d value that metadata.
In the case you encounter the same issue (or if you want to test the backup works), go to the top right menu on the main screen, and you’ll see an option to Import wallet. It should create a new wallet, named just like your old one, and if you’re using the same device, it will even open with the same password.
Please, remember that your wallet files and that backup zip are encrypted with a generated crazy secure password. So it’s always useful to have that written down, along with your wallet’s seed (just in case). To see them, click on Show secrets! on your wallet menu. You’ll see a Wallet Files Restore Password. That’s your wallet’s official encryption password. As long as you have a backup zip file, and that long, crazy password, there’s a lot of issues you can solve.
Again, if in doubt, reach to us either on Reddit, on Twitter, or by mail. We’ll try to clarify things asap (and improve this guide!)
