[SOLVED] Updated Debian 9 now Tor Browser not working

firenze465 · 01-27-2018, 05:41 PM

I have Debian 9 and did a recent upgrade with 'apt-get upgrade'.
After that, Tor Browser 3.5 will no longer load.

I have tried re-installing tor-browser onto the OS.
However, although the tor-browser launcher appears to re-install it just hangs on the re-install phase for over an hour.

Has anyone had this problem?
The tor-browser application was originally installed thru the Debian repository.
So it seems this might be a Debian problem (and not a tor-browser problem).
Does anyone know how to get tor-browser up and running again?
Many thanks in advance.

towheedm · 01-27-2018, 06:03 PM

I did not use Tor browser for a while but just tried it. After updating the browser. it is now 7.5 not 3.5. Also the Debian package 'torbrowser-launcher' from the backports is 0.2.8-5~bpo9+1.

If you installed it from the repo, try purging the torbrowser-launcher package and re-installing it.

I'm on Debian 9 also with all the latest updates installed.

firenze465 · 01-27-2018, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by towheedm

I did not use Tor browser for a while but just tried it. After updating the browser. it is now 7.5 not 3.5. Also the Debian package 'torbrowser-launcher' from the backports is 0.2.8-5~bpo9+1.

If you installed it from the repo, try purging the torbrowser-launcher package and re-installing it.

I'm on Debian 9 also with all the latest updates installed.

I have deleted the tor app with the following commands:

Code:

apt-get remove --purge tor
apt-get autoremove tor

When I repeat the purge command, Debian 9 says there is nothing to remove.
However, the KDE desktop environment is still showing the tor icon.
It even starts 'tor-browser launcher' which is a second tor icon.
I don't understand why this happens.

If I re-install tor on debian should I use the debian wiki?
Or is it better to use the torproject site?

I've actually had problems trying to install tor using the torproject site.
It is much easier using the debian wiki.

However, since I don't know why tor suddenly stopped working after the debian upgrade, I don't know if debian is secure or if tor is secure.

towheedm · 01-27-2018, 07:59 PM

Quote:

... or if tor is secure

Tor is about anonymity.

OK, I should have given my answer a bit more thought. The 'torbrowser-launcher' package does not contain the tor browser. It simplifies the process of downloading and installing the tor browser.

The package 'tor' is NOT the tor browser.

Code:

apt-cache show tor | grep '^tor -'
tor - anonymizing overlay network for TCP

What you removed was the tor protocol layer. Note that the tor protocol is installed by default during a Stretch installation.

So retry with this:

Code:

# apt-get purge torbrowser-launcher
# apt-get install torbrowser-launcher tor
# torbrowser-launcher

This should:
1. Remove the torbrowser-launcher package and any configuration files
2. Re-install the torbrowser-launcher and tor packages.
3. Launch the torbrowser-launcher binary to download and install the tor-browser app. Note that the torbrowser-launcher binary will also fetch the required gpg keys.

Hope it works for you.

firenze465 · 01-27-2018, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by towheedm

Tor is about anonymity.

OK, I should have given my answer a bit more thought. The 'torbrowser-launcher' package does not contain the tor browser. It simplifies the process of downloading and installing the tor browser.

The package 'tor' is NOT the tor browser.

Code:

apt-cache show tor | grep '^tor -'
tor - anonymizing overlay network for TCP

What you removed was the tor protocol layer. Note that the tor protocol is installed by default during a Stretch installation.

So retry with this:

Code:

# apt-get purge torbrowser-launcher
# apt-get install torbrowser-launcher tor
# torbrowser-launcher

This should:
1. Remove the torbrowser-launcher package and any configuration files
2. Re-install the torbrowser-launcher and tor packages.
3. Launch the torbrowser-launcher binary to download and install the tor-browser app. Note that the torbrowser-launcher binary will also fetch the required gpg keys.

Hope it works for you.

I'm afraid it's the same problem again.
The torbrowser doesn't install and update. It just hangs with a blank loading screen for a long time.

I'm surprised there isn't even an error message.

towheedm · 01-27-2018, 10:29 PM

Just checked and there seems to be some issues regarding torbrowser-launcher (at least for me).

If you are using the en-US version, you have a 'tor-browser_en-US' directory in your HOME directory. If so, try this, from your HOME directory:

Code:

./tor-browser_en-US/Browser/start-tor-browser &

This will launch the tor-browser.

If you don't have the directory, then it may necessary to recreate it.

firenze465 · 01-27-2018, 10:51 PM

I have attempted running torbrowser-launcher again and get the following error message:

Code:

File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/torbrowser_launcher/launcher.py",
 line 603, in check_min_version for line in open(self.common.paths['tbb']['versions']).readlines():
IOError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/root/.local/share/torbrowser/tbb/x86_64/tor-browser_en-US/Browser/TorBrowser/Docs/sources/versions'

towheedm · 01-27-2018, 11:02 PM

Yes that's what I'm also getting, but torbrowser-launcher should be run as a regular user so it creates the directories in the users HOME folder.

Code:

$ torbrowser-launcher 
Tor Browser Launcher
By Micah Lee, licensed under MIT
version 0.2.8
https://github.com/micahflee/torbrowser-launcher
Refreshing local keyring...
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/torbrowser-launcher", line 30, in <module>
    torbrowser_launcher.main()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/torbrowser_launcher/__init__.py", line 62, in main
    app = Launcher(common, url_list)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/torbrowser_launcher/launcher.py", line 91, in __init__
    if not self.common.settings['installed'] or not self.check_min_version():
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/torbrowser_launcher/launcher.py", line 603, in check_min_version
    for line in open(self.common.paths['tbb']['versions']).readlines():
IOError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/home/towheed/.local/share/torbrowser/tbb/x86_64/tor-browser_en-US/Browser/TorBrowser/Docs/sources/versions'

After this, my tor-browser is now broken, restoring in a bit.

firenze465 · 01-27-2018, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by towheedm

If you are using the en-US version, you have a 'tor-browser_en-US' directory in your HOME directory. If so, try this, from your HOME directory:

Code:

./tor-browser_en-US/Browser/start-tor-browser &

This will launch the tor-browser.

This is the error message I get even after creating an empty 'tor-browser_en-US' directory:

Code:

$ ./tor-browser_en-US/Browser/start-tor-browser &
[1] 16285
bash: ./tor-browser_en-US/Browser/start-tor-browser: No such file or directory

towheedm · 01-27-2018, 11:37 PM

I take it then that you did not have a tor-browser_en-US directory in your HOME directory. Are you using the en-US version? The en-US parts will be different if you are using a different locale.
What does ls -l tor-browser* return:

Code:

cd
ls -l tor-browser*

Are there any other tor-browser directory other than the one you created?

This directory must exist if you previously had tor-browser installed. You cannot simply just create the directory. This is the directory where the tor-browser is install into and the files are created by the installation.

Code:

./tor-browser_en-US/Browser/start-tor-browser

tries to run a non-existent file.

Anyway, after purging torbrowser-launcher and removing the ./local/share/torbrowser directory and reinstalling the torbrowser-launcher package, the error in post #8 persists.
I think maybe it's a bug in the package.

firenze465 · 01-28-2018, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by towheedm

Anyway, after purging torbrowser-launcher and removing the ./local/share/torbrowser directory and reinstalling the torbrowser-launcher package, the error in post #8 persists.
I think maybe it's a bug in the package.

Yes, it seems the debian upgrade has prevented the tor-browser from launching properly.
Both debian and tor have had recent updates - but I'm not sure where the problem is.

firenze465 · 01-30-2018, 06:32 PM

I am wondering if anyone has had issues with Tor Browser on Debian.
Searching the net hasn't offered any info on Tor Browser problems.

If the tor package comes as default with Debian 9 (Stretch), then surely there shouldn't be any issues with using the tor service.
Also, it would seem the tor service is still available on Windows and MacOS.

Is this a good time to send a bug report to Debian?
Or do I have problems with my OS? For example, I don't have 'swap' and the OS is on a usb.

towheedm · 01-30-2018, 07:40 PM

Does not work in a VM either. Fresh install. See this:
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgr...owser-launcher

firenze465 · 02-01-2018, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by towheedm

Does not work in a VM either. Fresh install. See this:
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgr...owser-launcher

I have found the bug report from your link.
It says:

Code:

Tor Browser upgraded itself to 7.5 but this broke torbrowser-launcher:

The bug report also mentions the same error message: 'No such file or directory: '/home/pabs/.local/share/torbrowser/tbb/x86_64/tor-browser_en-US/Browser/TorBrowser/Docs/sources/versions'.

The report is from 24 Jan. I'm gonna wait until they fix the problem with an update.
Thanks kindly for the help!