[tor-talk] Tor check not working or recognize TBB?

Joe joebtfsplk at gmx.com
Sun Jul 1 21:22:06 UTC 2018


Yesterday, updated TBB (automatically) to 7.5.6 Linux x64.
Today, the default Tor check site (English language), 
https://check.torproject.org gave message:
> "Congratulations. This browser is configured to use Tor.
>
> Your IP address appears to be: *5.79.xxx.xxx*
>
> However, it does not appear to be Tor Browser.
> Click here to go to the download page"
>
 From the message, I assume the Tor devs want users to download, verify 
& reinstall TBB because one check failed?

Question: what is the check process looking for (and where) to verify 
this is TBB?  Just a list of exit relays?
I got a new identity & tried again - same message.

According to several sources, it's quite possible the 
check.torproject.org site is down or malfunctioning.
Other sites, https://www.whatismybrowser.com/detect/am-i-using-tor, 
returned a "No" on the first exit relay entered, but verified "yes, 
you're using Tor" for a new Tor circuit.

The "go to the download page" is an odd, unhelpful message, especially 
if there's nothing wrong w/ the TBB install.
New or less technical users may not have a clue what to do based on that 
message.

*Instead* of an ambiguous answer if check.torproject has temporary 
problems, why not show a message with *specific alternative sites* to 
verify TBB & Tor connection, *before* doing the process of download / 
verify / reinstall TBB?  Surely that would often be faster and reduce 
usage of the download server?





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