don't try to make workers run if they aren't in ready state

node/consensus/data/data_clock_consensus_engine.go

@@ -563,6 +563,9 @@ func (e *DataClockConsensusEngine) PerformTimeProof(
 			})
 		}
 	}
+	if len(actives) < 3 {
+		return []mt.DataBlock{}
+	}
 	output := make([]mt.DataBlock, len(actives))
 	e.logger.Info(
 		"creating data shard ring proof",

node/consensus/data/main_data_loop.go

@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ func (e *DataClockConsensusEngine) processFrame(
 
 				outputs := e.PerformTimeProof(latestFrame, latestFrame.Difficulty, ring)
 				if outputs == nil || len(outputs) < 3 {
-					e.logger.Error("could not successfully build proof, reattempting")
+					e.logger.Info("workers not yet available for proving")
 					return latestFrame
 				}
 				modulo := len(outputs)