proxmox/docs/06-besu/BLOCK_PRODUCTION_ISSUE.md

Block Production Issue - Root Cause Identified

Last Updated: 2026-01-31
Document Version: 1.0
Status: Active Documentation

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Date: 2025-01-20
Status: 🔴 CRITICAL ISSUE FOUND

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Critical Problem

Block Production Has Stopped

• Current Block: 1145367 (stuck)
• Status: Blocks NOT being produced
• Impact: All transactions cannot be confirmed

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Root Cause Analysis

Issue 1: Nonce Conversion Failure (FIXED)

• Problem: Hex values had quotes ("0x3330" instead of 0x3330)
• Solution: Remove quotes before conversion
• Status: ✅ Fixed

Issue 2: Block Production Stopped (CRITICAL)

• Problem: Network validators stopped producing blocks
• Evidence: Block number stuck at 1145367 for extended period
• Impact: No transactions can be confirmed
• Status: ❌ REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ACTION

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Current Transaction Status

Nonce Status (After Fix)

• Latest Nonce: 13104 (confirmed)
• Pending Nonce: 13107 (includes pending)
• Pending Transactions: 3
  • Nonce 13104: Stuck transaction (original pending)
  • Nonce 13105: WETH9 Bridge deployment
  • Nonce 13106: WETH10 Bridge deployment

Deployment Status

• WETH9 Bridge: ❌ Not deployed (transaction pending)
• WETH10 Bridge: ❌ Not deployed (transaction pending)
• LINK Token: ⏳ Not attempted yet

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Solution: Restart Validators

Why Validators Stopped

Possible reasons:

1. Validator service crashed
2. Network connectivity issues
3. Consensus mechanism stalled
4. Resource constraints

Fix: Restart All Validators

# Restart all validators
for vmid in 1000 1001 1002 1003 1004; do
  pct exec $vmid -- systemctl restart besu-validator.service
done

# Wait for initialization
sleep 15

# Verify block production resumes
BLOCK1=$(cast block-number --rpc-url $RPC)
sleep 10
BLOCK2=$(cast block-number --rpc-url $RPC)
# Should increase

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Verification Steps

Step 1: Check Block Production

# Monitor blocks
BLOCK1=$(cast block-number --rpc-url $RPC)
sleep 10
BLOCK2=$(cast block-number --rpc-url $RPC)
# Blocks should increase

Step 2: Monitor Transaction Confirmations

# Watch for nonce to increase
LATEST=$(cast nonce $DEPLOYER --rpc-url $RPC)
# Should increase as transactions are confirmed

Step 3: Verify Contract Deployments

# Check WETH9 Bridge
cast code 0x646e0026F8B5BCB94986377a25Da6f89BdCbBF6e --rpc-url $RPC
# Should return contract code

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Expected Outcomes

After Validator Restart

1. ✅ Blocks resume production
2. ✅ Pending transactions start confirming
3. ✅ Nonce increases as transactions are mined
4. ✅ Contracts deploy successfully
5. ✅ Bridge destinations can be configured

Timeline

• Validator restart: ~30 seconds
• Block production resume: Immediate
• Transaction confirmations: 1-2 minutes per transaction
• Full deployment complete: ~5-10 minutes

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Troubleshooting

If Blocks Still Don't Produce

1. Check validator logs for errors
2. Verify validator services are running
3. Check network connectivity between validators
4. Verify consensus configuration
5. Check for resource constraints (CPU, memory, disk)

If Transactions Still Don't Confirm

1. Verify block production is working
2. Check transaction gas prices
3. Verify transactions are in mempool
4. Check for nonce conflicts
5. Verify account has sufficient balance

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Status: Critical issue identified - Block production stopped
Action Required: Restart validators immediately
Next: Monitor block production and transaction confirmations