Error warning shows up randomly although Tor Browser seems to be working fine and is connected to Tor

Every now and then if I open a new tab I get this error warning although I’m sure that the browser is connected to Tor and is working well:

And if I open a second tab right after this one the error warning disappears:

Operating system: macOS
Tor Browser version: Tor Browser Alpha 11.5a13

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Seeing this as well. I think this bug report could be related, though I am not using Tails or system tor: When using system tor, the about:tor page tells me it is not connected, but it is! (#41019) · Issues · The Tor Project / Applications / Tor Browser · GitLab

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Yes, related bug, just different environment. Will link it to the issue. Thank you!

Yeah, this screen can appear for a number of reasons if Tor Browser thinks it isn’t connected – but doesn’t actually provide any useful information as to what the underlying issue is.

Paging @championquizzer who can maybe help diagnose the issue!

Are there any hints or messages in the log?

(also related: red screen of death (#32328) · Issues · The Tor Project / Applications / Tor Browser · GitLab)

I have been running into this issue of late as well. Especially even more so since the network-wide DDoS. It’s possible that we are seeing the error message, momentarily, whenever a Tor circuit fails to establish.
That said, I do not have enough evidence to suggest that is the actual reason for the bug but it would be worth looking into the Tor logs whenever this happens (the timestamps between Tor connections, whether a lot of circuits are failing, etc.)!

Interesting – on stable too? If so I’ll move this out of the Alpha Feedback section.

Yes, on stable too!

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The error page showed up again. I’m noticing a pattern whereby if I quit the browser and reopen all windows, reconnect to Tor, at some point a page will show up with the error (not every time).

Pasting Tor logs below:

7/13/22, 12:15:48.322 [NOTICE] DisableNetwork is set. Tor will not make or accept non-control network connections. Shutting down all existing connections.
7/13/22, 12:15:48.438 [NOTICE] New control connection opened from 127.0.0.1.
7/13/22, 12:15:49.740 [NOTICE] New control connection opened from 127.0.0.1.
7/13/22, 12:15:51.855 [NOTICE] New control connection opened from 127.0.0.1.
7/13/22, 12:16:42.550 [NOTICE] Opening Socks listener on 127.0.0.1:9150
7/13/22, 12:16:42.550 [NOTICE] Opened Socks listener connection (ready) on 127.0.0.1:9150
7/13/22, 12:16:42.560 [NOTICE] Bootstrapped 5% (conn): Connecting to a relay
7/13/22, 12:16:42.132 [NOTICE] Bootstrapped 10% (conn_done): Connected to a relay
7/13/22, 12:16:42.230 [NOTICE] Bootstrapped 14% (handshake): Handshaking with a relay
7/13/22, 12:16:42.418 [NOTICE] Bootstrapped 15% (handshake_done): Handshake with a relay done
7/13/22, 12:16:42.419 [NOTICE] Bootstrapped 75% (enough_dirinfo): Loaded enough directory info to build circuits
7/13/22, 12:16:42.423 [NOTICE] Bootstrapped 90% (ap_handshake_done): Handshake finished with a relay to build circuits
7/13/22, 12:16:42.425 [NOTICE] Bootstrapped 95% (circuit_create): Establishing a Tor circuit
7/13/22, 12:16:42.847 [NOTICE] Bootstrapped 100% (done): Done
7/13/22, 12:16:52.920 [NOTICE] New control connection opened from 127.0.0.1.
7/13/22, 12:17:19.246 [NOTICE] New control connection opened from 127.0.0.1.
7/13/22, 12:17:21.277 [NOTICE] New control connection opened from 127.0.0.1.
7/13/22, 12:18:28.411 [NOTICE] New control connection opened from 127.0.0.1.
7/13/22, 12:18:51.567 [NOTICE] New control connection opened from 127.0.0.1.
7/13/22, 12:18:51.763 [NOTICE] New control connection opened from 127.0.0.1.
7/13/22, 12:20:51.830 [WARN] Rejecting SOCKS request for anonymous connection to private address [scrubbed].
7/13/22, 12:32:37.145 [NOTICE] New control connection opened from 127.0.0.1.

The page is still open on my browser just in case.

I can provoke the error page as follows with Tor Browser 11.5a13 on Windows and 1 configured & enabled obfs4 bridge

  • disable Always connect automatically
  • set homepage and new tabs to About Tor:

grafik

  • close and restart Tor Browser
  • click on Connect button

=> you should see the About Tor page

  • open a new tab with + in the tab bar

=> you should see the page mentioned by @raya

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Alpha releases updates on occasion, but not rarely (IMO). The best Tor browser (stable) to use is trustable and trouble-free.

I used to see this error message pop up quite often, but for the last couple of weeks it has not appeared. So good stuff.

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