I am unable to start tor-browser. I have used tor in the past with no issues, so I don't think there's a network configuration blocking this.
I found a reddit post that said to install zenity. I tried that and it didn't work.
Thanks in advance!
DE: KDE
Init: Runit
Could you start it from the terminal and post the output, if any, please
Running
tor browser provides no output.
Running
sudo tor browser produces:
/usr/bin/notify-send
Error calling StartServiceByName for org.freedesktop.Notifications: Timeout was reached
Running
tor produces the following:
Jun 21 10:24:14.568 [notice] Tor 0.4.7.8 running on Linux with Libevent 2.1.12-stable, OpenSSL 1.1.1o, Zlib 1.2.12, Liblzma 5.2.5, Libzstd 1.5.2 and Glibc 2.35 as libc.
Jun 21 10:24:14.568 [notice] Tor can't help you if you use it wrong! Learn how to be safe at https://support.torproject.org/faq/staying-anonymous/
Jun 21 10:24:14.568 [notice] Read configuration file "/etc/tor/torrc".
Jun 21 10:24:14.569 [notice] Opening Socks listener on 127.0.0.1:9050
Jun 21 10:24:14.569 [notice] Opened Socks listener connection (ready) on 127.0.0.1:9050
Jun 21 10:24:14.569 [warn] Error setting groups to gid 43: "Operation not permitted".
Jun 21 10:24:14.569 [warn] If you set the "User" option, you must start Tor as root.
Jun 21 10:24:14.569 [notice] Closing partially-constructed Socks listener connection (ready) on 127.0.0.1:9050
Jun 21 10:24:14.569 [warn] Failed to parse/validate config: Problem with User value. See logs for details.
Jun 21 10:24:14.569 [err] Reading config failed--see warnings above.
Running
sudo tor produces the following:
Jun 21 10:25:10.042 [notice] Tor 0.4.7.8 running on Linux with Libevent 2.1.12-stable, OpenSSL 1.1.1o, Zlib 1.2.12, Liblzma 5.2.5, Libzstd 1.5.2 and Glibc 2.35 as libc.
Jun 21 10:25:10.042 [notice] Tor can't help you if you use it wrong! Learn how to be safe at https://support.torproject.org/faq/staying-anonymous/
Jun 21 10:25:10.042 [notice] Read configuration file "/etc/tor/torrc".
Jun 21 10:25:10.043 [notice] Opening Socks listener on 127.0.0.1:9050
Jun 21 10:25:10.043 [notice] Opened Socks listener connection (ready) on 127.0.0.1:9050
Your running the Tor daemon, not the browser.
Are you sure you downloaded the browser?
Yes, check the first two commands I entered, which are tor-browser. I also launched Tor Browser from the Applications Launcher to no avail.
Did you download and install the tor browser from the repos or got it from Tor's own website?
If you have got from the Tor website , go into
./tor-browser_en-US/Browser and run this command to get output:
./start-tor-browser --verbose
I downloaded it from the repos so that command won't work.
Perhaps this then? No problem with it starting here, incidentally
$ /usr/bin/tor-browser --verbose
According to your output above:
Jun 21 10:24:14.568 [notice] Read configuration file "/etc/tor/torrc".
Jun 21 10:24:14.569 [err] Reading config failed--see warnings above.
- there could be a problem with your /etc/tor/torrc file, I don't have one myself, worth a look perhaps.
OK thanks, now we're making progress. I ran
/usr/bin/tor-browser --verbose and received the following response:
/home/myusername/.local/opt/tor-browser/app/Browser/start-tor-browser: line 362: 21223 Bus error TOR_CONTROL_PASSWD=${TOR_CONTROL_PASSWD} ./firefox --class "Tor Browser" -profile TorBrowser/Data/Browser/profile.default "${@}" < /dev/null
I checked my torrc and it looks ok to my untrained eye. Most of it is flagged. The only line that stood out is
DataDirectory /var/lib/tor
Which ? I just looked and it's in the universe repo as well as in the aur.
I installed it, ran in the terminal, and it worked.
The only output was
❯ /usr/bin/tor-browser
/usr/bin/notify-send
but the notify send only appeared the first time I ran it
As installed by the version in the universe repo you end up, after first run, with the following folder containing the actual tor browser that runs.
~/.local/opt/tor-browser
The command htop shows that is starting the browser is
bash /home/lee/.local/opt/tor-browser/app/Browser/start-tor-browser
The following shows the options available
❯ bash /home/lee/.local/opt/tor-browser/app/Browser/start-tor-browser --help
Usage: ./firefox.real [ options ... ] [URL]
where options include:
X11 options
--display=DISPLAY X display to use
--sync Make X calls synchronous
--g-fatal-warnings Make all warnings fatal
Firefox options
-h or --help Print this message.
-v or --version Print Firefox version.
--full-version Print Firefox version, build and platform build ids.
-P <profile> Start with <profile>.
--profile <path> Start with profile at <path>.
--migration Start with migration wizard.
--ProfileManager Start with ProfileManager.
--no-remote (default) Do not accept or send remote commands; implies
--new-instance.
--allow-remote Accept and send remote commands.
--new-instance Open new instance, not a new window in running instance.
--safe-mode Disables extensions and themes for this session.
--MOZ_LOG=<modules> Treated as MOZ_LOG=<modules> environment variable,
overrides it.
--MOZ_LOG_FILE=<file> Treated as MOZ_LOG_FILE=<file> environment variable,
overrides it. If MOZ_LOG_FILE is not specified as an
argument or as an environment variable, logging will be
written to stdout.
--headless Run without a GUI.
--browser Open a browser window.
--new-window <url> Open <url> in a new window.
--new-tab <url> Open <url> in a new tab.
--private-window <url> Open <url> in a new private window.
--preferences Open Preferences dialog.
--screenshot [<path>] Save screenshot to <path> or in working directory.
--window-size width[,height] Width and optionally height of screenshot.
--search <term> Search <term> with your default search engine.
--setDefaultBrowser Set this app as the default browser.
--first-startup Run post-install actions before opening a new window.
--kiosk Start the browser in kiosk mode.
--jsconsole Open the Browser Console.
--jsdebugger [<path>] Open the Browser Toolbox. Defaults to the local build
but can be overridden by a firefox path.
--wait-for-jsdebugger Spin event loop until JS debugger connects.
Enables debugging (some) application startup code paths.
Only has an effect when `--jsdebugger` is also supplied.
--devtools Open DevTools on initial load.
--start-debugger-server [ws:][ <port> | <path> ] Start the devtools server on
a TCP port or Unix domain socket path. Defaults to TCP port
6000. Use WebSocket protocol if ws: prefix is specified.
--recording <file> Record drawing for a given URL.
--recording-output <file> Specify destination file for a drawing recording.
--remote-debugging-port [<port>] Start the Firefox remote agent,
which is a low-level debugging interface based on the CDP protocol.
Defaults to listen on localhost:9222.
Tor Browser Script Options
--verbose Display Tor and Firefox output in the terminal
--log [file] Record Tor and Firefox output in file (default: tor-browser.log)
--detach Detach from terminal and run Tor Browser in the background.
--register-app Register Tor Browser as a desktop app for this user
--unregister-app Unregister Tor Browser as a desktop app for this user
So you can add --verbose.
See if the ~/.local/opt/tor-browser has been created ?
try running
bash /home/lee/.local/opt/tor-browser/app/Browser/start-tor-browser --verbose
if it has.
Try using the one in universe if it's the one in the AUR you have installed
Edit: Ninja'd again :)
I was going to delete my post but I'll just leave it there.
@gripped I'm using the version from the universe repo. I checked ~/.local/opt/tor-browser and I do have the correct files present. I ran start-tor-browser --verbose from /opt/ and received the same error posted in my last response:
/home/myusername/.local/opt/tor-browser/app/Browser/start-tor-browser: line 362: 4103 Bus error TOR_CONTROL_PASSWD=${TOR_CONTROL_PASSWD} ./firefox --class "Tor Browser" -profile TorBrowser/Data/Browser/profile.default "${@}" < /dev/null
Thank you both for your help so far, sorry this is such a dead end issue...
according to pamac, tor browser is located in
/usr/bin/tor-browser
My total guess after looking at the code of ~/.local/opt/tor-browser/app/Browser/start-tor-browser.
tor-browser can use it's own built in version of tor or a system installed version.
I do not have tor installed, only tor-browser. I do not have a file /etc/tor/torrc on my system.
tor-browser works.
What I suspect is you do have tor installed and it's not setup correctly.
tor-browser is detecting your system tor automatically and using it. System tor is not set up right and tor-browser does not work.
Possible solution. Remove tor and all tor config files. If that doesn't fix it also
rm ~/.local/opt/tor-browser
and then the next run of
/usr/bin/tor-browser
will recreate it.
Just a hunch :)
@gripped this worked! Thank you so much.
I'm not sure what was wrong with my torrc. I had previously used it for Bisq, and didn't modify the config myself.
I'll try to re-install the tor daemon later and see if this breaks everything again, but this'll work in the meantime ;D .
Your welcome.
Maybe Bisq uses the tor daemon in a different way than tor-browser does ?
Anyhow you know the root of the problem. I'm sure there's info out there about "tor-browser not working with system tor" etc.
You're welcome.
Maybe Bisq uses the tor daemon differently than tor-browser does? Or maybe your system tor did work but doesn't now?
I'd suggest a search along the lines of "tor-browser not working system tor" if you ever actually need the system tor again.