Impossibile to sign up on CrytPad instances

TheLobster

Hi all,

I've been trying during the last months (months not days/hours) to create a user on a CryptPad instance, I started with cryptpad.fr but I had the same problem everywhere.

This is what is happening.

I try to create a user on cryptpad.fr (but as I said it's the same wherever I try). I insert a username and a password, I uncheck "Import documents...", I check "I accept the terms of service...". A Warning is shown saying that I must write down username and password, I click "I HAVE WRITTEN DOWN...". I see "Hashing your password this can take some time" and after a few seconds the error message appears: "An unexpected error occurred 🙁".

I tried from my Windows PC at the office (at the beginning with Windows 10 now with Windows 11), both with Firefox and with Edge. I also tried at home, with my Ubuntu PC, using Firefox. In all cases I have the issue described above.

The only way I could create a user was through my Android phone. As long as I work from my phone I can create the user, log in, create documents, it works perfectly, but when I try to login from a PC (the same PCs I described above), I get the error "Invalid username or password".

So for me is basically impossible to use ANY instance of CryptPad I've tried.

It sounds impossible to me too but it's exactly like that.

Any idea about how to solve this issue?

Ciao,
Max

AlexQ

Hello @TheLobster , welcome to the forum.

I would guess that something on your PC is blocking parts of the CryptPad site, usually ad blockers or antivirus. These are not so common on smartphones, so this could explain the different behavior:

1)
Please check if you use special browser extensions on your PC like the mentioned ad blockers or antivirus. If so please try to put CryptPad on the whitelist of that extension, so that the site does not get blocked. Same could be if you use something like private / inkognito mode of the browser.

This is just a try to narrow down the error cause. I have no insight to the CryptPad application, I'm just a user.

2)
You can also try and see what happens if you use a "fresh" browser installation. To do so easily you could download Firefox "Portable" from portableapps.com . This version runs without installation, just unpack it and run it. Everything is contained in the folder (therefore "portable"). This would give you a parallel Firefox with default settings and no extensions / plugins. So if this works suddenly you know that the cause is some browser thing in Firefox and Edge.

3)
Regarding the antivirus of your PC there is usually a setting to disable it temporarily. Some antivirus products "protect" the browser communication, it depends on the product and the settings.

I hope someone from the CryptPad Team can help you, if this does not help.

TheLobster

Thanks for your reply Alexq.

Unfortunately my company blocks everything so I can't download from portableapps.com and I can't disable the antivirus.

I just tried to start Firefox in "Troubleshoot mode" (with all themes and extensions disabled) but it didn't work. I had exactly the same issue.

Anyway it's worth trying the portable solution too, at home.

Ciao,
Max

AlexQ

Hello @TheLobster , did you already succeed at home?

Regarding company environments it's difficult, since one usually does not know, what get's filtered or blocked. Web services like CryptPad often work, but for example the secure SSL connection may be compromised ("SSL interception", so that the company antivirus / firewall is able to scan the communication.

So I'm curious what causes the problem at least at home.

TheLobster

Hi AlexQ ,

I've just tried at home (Linux + Firefox) and now it works. I can sign up and then log in/log out.

I don't know why, as I didn't change anything in my system/browser configuration.

Ciao,
Max

TheLobster

Update.

Today I was prevented from logging in to Wikipedia because my IP (i.e. the IP of the company I work for) has been found in a black list. The reason given by Wikipedia is "open proxy".

Could it be that also Cryptpad instances use the same black list?

This could explain why I haven't found a single instance where I can create a Cryptpad user from the office, among the many I've tried, and this also explains why I can do it from home (but it doesn't explain why up to a couple of weeks ago I couldn't do it from home either...).

Ciao,
Max