[Solved] Can't enter a license because there is no internet connection.

Posted by: @hobin_rood

I can't enter a license because there is no internet connection.

How do you come to this conclusion? What‘s the error message you are getting?

Posted by: @hobin_rood

What I also noticed unpleasantly is that eblocker blocks the network to the internet in the default setting dhcp, even if you haven't made any settings.

Same question here. What makes you think this is the case? 

Would be great to see screenshots of errors AND all the infos asked here. 

THX!

Hello Random.

Sorry if I disregarded the rules. That was not my intention.
I will provide the necessary information tomorrow.

Greetings
hobin

Hello.
Here is my answer to the standard questions:

Hardware you use for running eBlockerOS
--> Raspberry Pi 2 B V1.1
eBlockerOS version as well as filter lists version
--> 2.5.6
eBlocker network mode (auto, individual or expert)
--> auto
eBlocker network settings (IP, mask, gateway)
--> xxx,xxx.177.243, C-Class, GW ...177.1
eBlocker DNS firewall settings
--> couldn't see settings
Client network settings (IP, mask, DNS, gateway)
--> xxx.xxx.177.203 , other same as eBlocker
Whether eBlocker's https integration is enabled for client
--> couldn't set because no License Activation
Client browser and OS version (i.e. FireFox 80.1 running on macOS 13.4)
--> Firefox and Chrome running on Kubuntu 18.04 (Bionic) Kernel 4.15.0-122-generic

I also reinstalled the eBlocker again to be on the safe side.
The second point, that the internet access is blocked, is no longer given (no idea what the problem was).
I still can't enter a license because I can't load the license agreement (see screenshot).

The Raspi has unlimited access via the router (FB 7530)

Posted by: @hobin_rood

The Raspi has unlimited access via the router (FB 7530)

Are you sure eBlocker has Internet access? Error message indicates that it's not the case.

Some ideas to check:

• If you are using MAC/hardware address blocking on your router (i.e. for new devices), please disable fully.
• Make sure eBlocker's IP address (see in your router) is not being blocked by some "Internet filter" of the router.
  • And it's a good idea to assign always the same IP to eBlocker in your routers DHCP settings. But that's more for the future once it's running well.
• Last idea: Change the LAN port of your router where you plug in the eBlocker. Depending on router config there might be a port configured not to get Internet access (guest port or such)

If all this fails - I have no clue. Sorry.

For sure it's not an eBlocker issue but the cause is somewhere in your network configuration...

THX!

Hello.
Thanks for the answer.

-If you use MAC/hardware address blocking on your router (e.g. for new devices), please disable it completely.
No, is not active. It also says "unrestricted".

- Make sure that the IP address of the eBlocker (see in your router) is not blocked by any "Internet filter" of the router.
Nothing is filtered at the moment. But I will check it again.

-And it is a good idea to always assign eBlocker the same IP in the DHCP settings of your router. But this is more for the future, if it works well.
Is set like this anyway.

- Last idea: Change the LAN port of your router where you connect eBlocker. Depending on the configuration of your router, there may be a port that is configured so that no Internet access is possible (guest port or similar).
Yes, I have to test this. But I have connected everything via one port.
Via another 3 unmanaged switches.

I will probably test with Wireshark as well.

Greetings
hobin

Hello everyone.
I have now done some tests.

To exclude my network I have a test setup with an LTE laptop, a switch, an eblocker and a client in this network.
Also here I could not get a license. But the additional client as test station had unlimited access.

Then I put Wireshark on the interface.
This "told" me that the eblocker answered with the http error 500 when trying to get the license. To be on the safe side, I reloaded the SD card with the original image. Also after that the error occurred.

Finally I downloaded the image again. And after that there were no more problems.
A little bit strange, because I don't expect that a download "error" will influence such things (in this case the image as such should not run).
Or a new version was made available for download?

But in the end it does not matter. Now it works for now.
Thanks for the support.

Greetings
Hobin

Posted by: @hobin_rood

Or a new version was made available for download?

Where did you get your image? What version was this (see filename)?

With the open source release the end user license is new (EUPL of course 😎). So I suspect the old commercial license agreement can not be loaded anymore...

Not a wanted effect (in terms of user experience) but rather a feature than a bug. The commercial license with eBlocker GmbH can no longer be used (as the company has ceased business). But with the right image eBlocker will be revived in the Open Source world 😍 😎 😀 

Summary for readers: If the license agreement is not shown, make sure you have the latest images and eBlocker has full Internet access.

Posted by: @benne

Where did you get your image? What version was this (see filename)?

I've downloaded this

https://eblocker.org/eblockeros-download/eBlocker-2.5.6-raspberry-pi-4.img.gz

Greetings

hobin

 @hobin_rood Very strange - not to say „a wonder“.

Are you 100% sure this was the image you‘ve used initially?

Can you please make a diff/cmp of the two images (as you are a tech guy😃). I wonder if the image was not fully downloaded how it could have ever been decompressed during the SD install... 🤔 

THX!

No I build a new eBlocker-device with OS 2.5.6. By activating I receive the message "Unable to load license agreement. An Internet connection is required."

In the network mode I tried both individual and Automatic Network Mode.

In the devices list I see all devices with the correct IP adress, this means, the eBlocker works correct in the LAN.

My router is a Fritz!Box Cable 6490, I fixed the IP of the eBlocker. The previous device with the old OS worked fine.

I tried different browsers with no effect.

Does anyone have an idea?

Thanks and kind regards
Detlef

@detlef-ac I've joined your topic to this thread as it probably answers your question.

Personally I'm not sure how you can access the devices / settings without accepting the license agreement... 🤔 

You might want to use the search function (in the left hand side bar) as there are other "can't enter license" topics (if I remember right) which are solved already and might be useful...

THX!

Posted by: @random

 @hobin_rood Very strange - not to say „a wonder“.

Are you 100% sure this was the image you‘ve used initially?

Can you please make a diff/cmp of the two images (as you are a tech guy😃). I wonder if the image was not fully downloaded how it could have ever been decompressed during the SD install... 🤔 

THX!

Sorry for the late reply.
Unfortunately no. I don't have the previous file as a comparison possibility anymore.

greetings

hobin

Now I've seen in the expert modus of network settings, there are wrong IP's für the external DHCP-Service, these are the IP's of the eBlocker. I expect the Gateway-IP for the DHCP-Service.

The DHCP-IP are not editable.

Thanks to Random for moving my topic to this thread.

@Detlef-AC

in "Expert-Mode" you can not edit these setting. You have to tell your DHCP Server that the DHCP-Server give the Client the Gateway and DNS. The Gateway and DNS is then eBlocker, so all Internettraffic will go to the eBlocker.

You have a Fritzbox, so you can’t choose "Expert-Mode". Best for Cable Box is "Individual Mode"

See Tims Video on Vimeo for configuration:

https://vimeo.com/user92153728

Look this and it will help you... 🙂 

regards

PIO78

@detlef-ac If you set the eBlocker to use an external DHCP server this (external) DHCP server needs to be configured with the configuration shown in the box. Usually this is only possible with separate external DHCP servers not with router DHCP services.

I‘m not sure what you try to achieve but to me it appears you have no idea of what you are doing. Sorry. Setting eBlocker to expert mode is for, right: experts (in network configuration). If you are not an expert, please stop using this mode!

In case your router is the DHCP server, please set eBlocker back to Auto Network Mode and make sure no MAC address blocking in your router is taking place (which might be the reason eBlocker get‘s no Internet access). Also make sure you have the current eOS image from our website, not from other sources (see posts above).

THX! 

After the mode individual and automatic didn't work in the network configuration, I chose the mode expert for testing, now I switched back to automatic mode. But without success.

I also repeated the download from eblocker.org and rebuilt the OS with balenaEtcher-1.5.111-x64.

There are no locks or filters in the router.

Since January 2019 I use the wonderful eBlocker. In my network there have been no changes. Only with the new OS 2.5.6 the described problem occurred to me.

Hello,

Had the same issue. I needed to unplug and replug my raspberry for it to work. hope that helps

Hello Everyone,

I seem to have the exact same issue as discussed here. 
My eBlocker, running on a PI4, does not seem to be able to connect to the internet / Licence Agreement.

I can access the dashboard and settings via the top right button, and changed between all three modes.

The eBlocker is connected directly to my Orange Livebox (im in France). I also tried to connect it to the switch, rather than the router directly.

I see the device in the network settings of the switch as well as the router, there are no MAC blockings active, I have tried to set a fixed IP address for the eBlocker and I tried to change the DHCP in the Livebox to the PI, but no changes.

I could try to disconnect the switch (a Unify switch, controller running on my pc) and only have my pc, the eBlocker and the router in the network, but I assume that shouldnt make a difference?

The thread is marked solved, but I could not find an answer (and yes i tried to reboot). 

Thank you very much for your help.

@ben Thanks for you post. 

First of all I would recommend to bring eBlockerOS back into a defined state. Either by reinstalling the SD card anew (which I'd do) or by performing a Factory Reset (Settings> Reset> Factory Reset).

Connect it straight to the router and remove the switch (just to make sure there is no interference). Make sure the port in your router is not restricted (no guest port etc.).

Once eBlockerOS is booted up enter http://eblocker.box or access it via it's IP address (see here).

Then wait patiently(!) for the License Agreement to load (a couple of minutes in the worst case). If it is not loading still, go to Settings and run the Doctor. Share screenshot of results here.

THX!

Hello @random 

thank you for the quick response.
I reinstalled the software and started without the switch as you suggested.

While I still didnt get the licence agreement right away, it allowed me to select "continue without agreeing".
From there I was able to access the Doctor, which suggested that there was an issue with the DNS server. So I deactivated the "Use eBlocker as DNS Server" option, and now it seems to work. 

Im not sure if I didnt see the "continue without agreeing" option or what I did different this time... 

I reconnected the switch to see if all is working. So far so good. Thank you for your help. 

@ben Good it partly works but the current settings are probably not a good solution (=eBlocker will not work or only partly). 

Please try to re-enable eBlocker's DNS firewall and switch to the Default option (first radio button). This will route DNS requests to your router/provider after filtering but not use alternative DNS servers (like 1.1.1.1 or 9.9.9.9). I can only suspect your provider might not want you to use alternative DNS servers - or the mentioned DNS servers are down/have issues.

Nevertheless, without accepting the Open Source License Agreement you wont get any updates and worse: eBlocker will not work either if the DNS firewall is disabled.

THX!

When I turn the DNS firewall back on and onto Default, I get the "eBlocker cannot resolve DNS names (Severe warning)" error and no access to the internet anymore. I didnt change any other settings or DNS addresses. 

Should I deactivate the firewall on my router? Its a "Sagemcom Livebox Fibre". I guess the two are clashing?

@ben eBlocker is just another device in your network and does not need specific settings with your router's firewall as the router firewall is usually only protecting inbound traffic (means traffic coming from the Internet). BTW: eBlocker is an outbound firewall that only forwards "good" request to the Internet router but blocks requests to trackers, ad-servers etc. (not being passed to the router).

Can you please double check eBlocker's IP settings by taking a screenshot of the Settings tile in the dashboard (and also click +X Addresses to show IPv6 addresses). It should look similar to this:

Then please also share your router's IP settings as well as a device overview (you've mentioned above) where your router "sees" the eBlocker and it's address. A screenshot would be best.

THX!

Okay, I thought, as both are "firewalls", they might clash at some point.

Here are the screenshots of the different settings. 

@ben Thanks for the quick reply.

Just to verify:

• eBlocker is plugged straight into your router (and not someplace else behind a range extender)
• eBlocker Doctor reports no Internet access
• Other devices plugged into the same port of your router can access the Internet (please really verify this with a PC or Mac)

If all this is the case then switch eBlockerOS to Expert Network Mode (Settings> Network). Here enter 

• 192.168.1.19 as eBlocker's IP address
• 255.255.255.0 as mask
• 192.168.1.1 as gateway
• DHCP to External

Reboot eBlockerOS (probably it will ask to do so). In addition set eBlocker's DNS Firewall to Default (so it uses your router's DNS). Then check the Doctor again. 

If the Doctor reports no issue, then (and only then!) I'd switch the DHCP server to eBlockerOS. 

• Disable the DHCP server on your router
• In a parallel browser window go to Expert Network setting and change DHCP setting from external to eBlocker
• For the eBlocker DHCP enter the same range as with your router 192.168.1.10 - 192.168.1.150. Set lease time to 10min and make sure "Assign static IP address for new devices" is enabled. 
• Reboot eBlockerOS (it will probably ask to do so).
• Reboot all Internet devices - and then they will take over eBlocker's DHCP settings and route the traffic to eBlocker, so they can be protected.
• From there follow the Setup Instructions closely(!)

In case the Doctor reports issues, share a screenshot of them.

THX!

Posted by: @random

↑

Just to verify:

• eBlocker is plugged straight into your router (and not someplace else behind a range extender)
• eBlocker Doctor reports no Internet access
• Other devices plugged into the same port of your router can access the Internet (please really verify this with a PC or Mac)

Yes, the eBlocker is plugged in directly into the Router, there is only my PC and the switch connected to the router (all the other devices are connected to the switch). All ports work (no difference where I plug what).

The eBlocker Doctor reports "eBlocker cannot resolve DNS names (Severe warning)", when i turn the DNS firewall on. When the Firewall is active, there is no internet. If it is off, I have internet, and there are no errors on the doctor (2 yellows: cannot run auto updates; and eblocker active for new devices. I assume that is normal) 

Ill try your solution later and let you know 🙂

I tried, but no changes, same error in the Doctor, so I did not continue with the DHCP Server changes. 

@ben, @random

Thank you very much for reporting this issue!

There seems to be a problem with eBlocker's own DNS server (AKA DNS Firewall) that is causing it to crash at startup.

I am looking into it. Currently the only workaround to get the eOS 3.0.2 image to work is to:

• In the setup phase: "Continue without activation"
• Disable the DNS Firewall
• License / Activate new license.

eBlockers with 3.0.2 that were updated from older images do not seem to be affected.

Hello Boris,

thank you for the Info.
Thats what I did. I was able to select "Continue without activation", turn off the Firewall and gain Internet access this way. 

For some reason this option ( "Continue without activation") wasnt available until I reinstalled the eblocker on the Pi.

So basically Ill wait for an update, until I can turn on the DNS Firewall? Otherwise it seems to run fine. 

@ben Thanks again for your patience and your report.👍 We've just released an announcement in this regard and will update this thread as well as the announcement once the issue is fixed.

See https://eblocker.org/community/announcements/eblockeros-3-0-2-image-with-dns-bug/#post-7430

THX!

@ben I just wanted to let you know that we have release eBlockerOS 3.0.3 today. After the update to this version (via the UI) you can re-enable the DNS firewall to take full advantage of eBlockerOS.👍

We have also updated all eBlockerOS images so the bug will no longer block new installs.

Thanks again for your feedback and happy eBlocking 😉

THX!

Hello @random 

thank you very much for letting me know. 
I have been actively checking for an update and have it running already.
Im working on the setting and trying to get everything going, but so far its quite easy and great.
Thanks and im happy to support the project for the future.