<p>The error code -30974 indicates that the database system (Berkeley DB) is having some issue with opening the database file and thinks that it is corrupted and that a recovery procedure needs to be run.</p>
<p>One way to try to resolve this is to use the <code>bitcoin-wallet</code> tool's <code>salvage</code> command. Note that this is essentially a last resort tool as salvaging is known to cause issues for non-corrupted wallets. I recommend that you ensure that there are backups of your wallet prior to using salvage.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-04T04:29:56.933Z
2024-04-04T04:29:56.933Z
Ava Chow
<p>If moved your wallet file between systems, there might be a version mismatch between the BerkeleyDB versions used to create and open the wallet. Some bitcoin core versions also had some bugs. Sometimes there is a problem with wallet.dat file itself. The wallet.dat file could be corrupted. This can happen if Bitcoin Core was closed improperly or the system crashed(or also there could be a bug).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-24T23:06:36.417Z
2024-10-24T23:06:36.417Z
cryptorecovery.io
<p>I Installed Bitcoin Core v25.0.0 and restored my old wallet backup made in 2014 (with bitcoin core version of 2013) successfully. The wallet is shown, status is encrypted and locked.</p>
<p>Trying to unlock the wallet with the passphrase results in this error:</p>
<p>BerkeleyDatabase: Error -30974, can't open database wallet.dat (code -1)</p>
<p>The backup was made on a Linux machine, the recovery on Windows.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any suggestions on what may be the case and how to resolve this?</p>

<wallet-recovery><encryption>
Access restored but encrypted/locked old wallet (2013 version)
Leo
# Access restored but encrypted/locked old wallet (2013 version)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-03-18)

I Installed Bitcoin Core v25.0.0 and restored my old wallet backup made in 2014 (with bitcoin core version of 2013) successfully. The wallet is shown, status is encrypted and locked.

Trying to unlock the wallet with the passphrase results in this error:

BerkeleyDatabase: Error -30974, can't open database wallet.dat (code -1)

The backup was made on a Linux machine, the recovery on Windows.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what may be the case and how to resolve this?

**Tags:** wallet-recovery, encryption


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-04-04. Score: 0

The error code -30974 indicates that the database system (Berkeley DB) is having some issue with opening the database file and thinks that it is corrupted and that a recovery procedure needs to be run.

One way to try to resolve this is to use the `bitcoin-wallet` tool's `salvage` command. Note that this is essentially a last resort tool as salvaging is known to cause issues for non-corrupted wallets. I recommend that you ensure that there are backups of your wallet prior to using salvage.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2024-10-24. Score: 0

If moved your wallet file between systems, there might be a version mismatch between the BerkeleyDB versions used to create and open the wallet. Some bitcoin core versions also had some bugs. Sometimes there is a problem with wallet.dat file itself. The wallet.dat file could be corrupted. This can happen if Bitcoin Core was closed improperly or the system crashed(or also there could be a bug).


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