Issues with Initial Blockchain Sync

I'm running into some trouble with my initial sync. Halfway through, I keep getting this error: Fatal LevelDB error: Corruption: block checksum mismatch. I've got a brand new 500GB SSD, and it's not showing any issues, so I doubt it's a hardware problem. The kicker is that I need to run a pruned node since my 500GB drive isn't big enough for the full blockchain. But when it fails, I have to reindex, which just starts the whole process over again. This has happened several times now, in different locations. Any ideas on what I might be doing wrong?

Have you checked the SMART? Chances are you have either a disk or a memory problem. Bitcoin Core's initial sync is quite demanding for your hardware.

SMART shows 0 errors. Memory is fairly new as well (about a year old with little use) and I have 16G

Read this thread on Github. The suggestions are to check hardware: memtest, CPU and disk temperature. Any chance your fans are dusty? If it's not hardware, that leaves software. Try if a different OS helps.

It'd be great if you include additional information as suggested on this thread, [READ BEFORE POSTING] Tech Support Help Request Format. If you use computer and that SSD use SATA port, i also recommend you to try different SATA cable.

Okay I have started running tests.

Cpu and memory are both clean at this point.

Sorry about that. Here is the info. Bitcoin Client Software and Version Number: Bitcoin Core 26.0 Operating System: Ubuntu 24.04 System Hardware Specs: AMD Athalon 5350 / 16G DDR 3/1600 (2 8G chips) / 500 G SSD Description of Problem: Issue syncing initial blockchain and never able to complete. Any Related Addresses: NA Any Related Transaction IDs: NA Screenshot of the problem: NA Log Files from the Bitcoin Client: NA Trying another SATA cable now.

Did you check the temperature during IBD?

It doesnt show up in the list of sensors. I was only able to monitor during stress testing which was okay.

Still producing an error message with the new sata cable. Not seeing any hardware errors. With pruning off, I was able to get pretty far through the process before running out of space but with pruning on, it fails and then I have to start over.

Let me add one additional thing. I installed via snap. It is working in the gui. I am currently a couple weeks behind but that will catch up shortly. When I launch in the command line from /snap/bitcoin-core/current/bin directory ./bitcoind -prune=550. So is my whole problem that I am just launching from the wrong location and trying to download the blockchain twice. And sorry for the noob questions.

OP - you can always torrent the initial download. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5480676.0

I had issues with the Snap package of Bitcoin Core in the past. Couldn't make it work properly with Tor. The particular issue was a Snap packaging issue back then. I ditched the Snap package and my problems went away with the normal tarball. I don't see much of an advantage for the Snap package, especially when I don't want automatic updates by Snap. I'm just reporting what I experienced myself under Ubuntu 22.04.x LTS.

That isn't helpful at all.  The main issue with syncing almost always involves validation rather than downloading.  It's also not advisable to sync outside of the Bitcoin client. Have you attempted to utilize the binaries from bitcoincore.org or compile them on your own?  I frequently encounter issues with snap packages.