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100k Sat Bounty - Help me regain access to my Start9 server

2115 sats \ 34 comments \ @TheWildHustle 17 Dec bitcoin

I'm experiencing issues with my Start9 server and offering a 100k sat bounty for help resolving it.

Current Issues

Server has been down for an extended period
Already attempted re-flashing OS and recovery from existing drive
Login attempts at .local result in immediate logout (within 0.5 seconds)
No error messages appear in console

Troubleshooting Steps Taken

Contacted Start9 support
Tested with multiple internet routers
Attempted access through different browsers
Tried various devices (both laptop and mobile)
Performed OS re-flash
Attempted drive recovery process

Additional Information

The login screen appears and accepts credentials
Successfully authenticates but immediately redirects back to login
This behavior is consistent across all tested configurations

Bounty Details

Offering 100k sats for successful resolution of this issue. Direct messages are welcome for assistance.

Notes

This appears to be a persistent authentication/session management issue rather than a network or hardware problem, given the consistency across different devices and networks.

view all related items

20 sats \ 2 replies \ @Arceris 17 Dec

Are you able to log in through SSH, or on the local console? You said no errors appear on the console, but IIRC you can log in there to a CLI. It may require permissions to be set in the web gui, so it may not be possible yet.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @TheWildHustle OP 17 Dec

I've been trying with the .local with the root CA downloaded on my comp.

TOR hardly ever works.

Not sure about IIRC and accessing it through command line.

I'll mention it to the Start9 support guy and see if its possible.

If i'm able to access the thing through command line and fix the issue the 100k is yours.

15 sats \ 0 replies \ @ek 17 Dec

IIRC means "if I recall correctly"

10 sats \ 6 replies \ @felipe 17 Dec

Do you have physical access to the server?

If so, plug a keyboard on it and try to access and login on a TTY. You can access one with CTRL + ALT + F2 (or 3, or 4, or 5, or 6. 7 is usually where X is running)

After login, try running startx to see what happens. It'll probably throw an error saying that there's already an open display or session or something but, for now, we only want to know if you can get to this point

One more question: I'm not familiar with Start9. Is it a distro or is it something that runs on top of another distro? If it is a distro, which one is based on? Debian, Ubuntu, other?

0 sats \ 5 replies \ @TheWildHustle OP 17 Dec

Can't plug a keyboard into the thing, its running off of a rasberry pi.

StartOS is the distro, not sure what its based off on.

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @felipe 17 Dec

As @Scroogey said, you can plug a keyboard and a mouse on the Raspberry Pi. You can also plug it to a monitor

Do that and boot the thing so we can continue guiding you

not sure what its based off on.

I made a quick research and it appears to be base on Debian

10 sats \ 2 replies \ @Scroogey 17 Dec

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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @felipe 17 Dec

Nice, that is progress

Can you open a terminal inside this kiosk mode you mentioned?

If so, before trying anything else, plug a usb drive and back up everything you think you might need later

After that, you can do the following:

sudo systemctl stop lightdm (or gdm if it can't find the lightdm service)

this will stop the current X session and drop you back to a TTY

rename files like .Xprofile and .xsession or something like that to something else (I like to append .old)

try to start a new session with:

startx (try to append --verbose to see if it throws any useful log

if startx didn't work, try sudo systemctl start lightdm

Let's see what happens after all that

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Scroogey 17 Dec

deleted by author

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Scroogey 17 Dec

deleted by author

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @random_ 17 Dec

You won't have SSH access as you (probably) haven't set up SSH keys.

You may have CLI access if you connect the device to a display and keyboard. If so, you can you use embassy-cli to control the node.

Maybe try clearing your browser cache and cookies and logging in again?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @TheWildHustle OP 17 Dec

Tried cleaning the cache, and tried multiple browsers and devices.

Asking the Start9 community guide if embassy-cli would be a good direction to go.

10 sats \ 5 replies \ @Skipper 17 Dec

Try a way to stop the redirect from happening, you said you had a 0.5 sec window. Try pressing esc button before the redirect happens, you will need to time it right

Check the browser console logs too.

Try with Javascript disabled aswell.

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @TheWildHustle OP 17 Dec

No luck with the escape button.

Console is clear.

Asking the Start9 guy about disabling javascript (Never done that before)

If disabling javascript fixes the thing the 100k is yours.

158 sats \ 3 replies \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 17 Dec

Disabling JavaScript is something you’d do in your browser itself, not on the server

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Skipper 17 Dec

Exactly. You can easily do this with Firefox + any "No Javascript" extension.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 17 Dec

It requires an extension? It should be a built in browser setting

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Skipper 17 Dec

You can do it without extension too

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @supratic 18 Dec

@TheWildHustle did you fix this issue? I remember diving into the same loop

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @TheWildHustle OP 18 Dec

Not yet. Any advice?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @geeknik 18 Dec

Given the reflash attempts, I hypothesize potential corruption in the persistent storage layer that survives OS reinstalls.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ch0k1 17 Dec

1. Clear Browser Cache and Cookies

Sometimes session cookies can cause issues even if the problem appears to be on the server side.

Privacy and Security >
Clear browsing data >
Choose "Cookies and other site data" and "Cached
images and files.

For Firefox: Settings >
Privacy & Security >
Cookies and Site Data >
Clear Data..

2. Check Server Logs (if accessible)

If you can access the server through SSH or through a terminal session (via direct monitor/keyboard connection), check the server logs for any relevant errors: Look for logs in /var/log (e.g., /var/log/auth.log, var/log/syslog, /var /log/messages) to identify any issues related to authentication, session creation, or other system failures.

You can view these logs with commands like:

sudo tail -f /var/log/auth.log
sudo tail -f /var/log/syslog
sudo tail -f /var/log/messages

3. Verify Session Management Service

The issue may be tied to the session management system. Start9 0S might be using a service like systemd, lightdm, or nginx (if using web-based login).

Restart any session management services

sudo systemctl restart lightdm   # if using LightDM for login
sudo systemctl restart nginx     # if using NGINX for web services

4. Ensure Proper Disk Mount and File System Integrity

Since you've attempted a recovery process, make sure that the file system is intact and properly mounted.

Check for disk errors:

sudo dmesg | grep -i error
sudo fsck /dev/sdX  # Replace sdX with the correct device identifier (e.g., /dev/sda1)

5. Recheck the User Authentication Configuration

There could be an issue with the user authentication configuration on the server. For example, the user database may be corrupted or not properly syncing with the session management service. If you can access the server, try resetting the password for the user that is being used for login:

sudo passwd username   # Replace 'username' with the actual username

6. Test with a New User

Create a new user to see if the issue is specific to the current user:

sudo adduser testuser
sudo usermod -aG sudo testuser

Then try logging in with the new user to see if the behavior persists.

7. Hardware and Network Isolation

While the issue seems software-based, it's worth isolating variables:

Try booting the server without the external drive attached to rule out drive-specific issues. Connect the Raspberry Pi directly to a computer via Ethernet and attempt local access.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @nout 17 Dec

Sign in into your AP (access point) - if you are connecting over wifi, then it's the wifi one. And then in the Access point interfaces see a list of clients that are connected on the local network (usually called LAN in the UI) and see which IP address got assigned to your raspberry pi. And then navigate to that IP in your browser, e.g. http://192.168.0.32/.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nout 18 Dec

Also just try accessing without the ".local", just "http://xxx/", not "http://xxx.local"

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Design_r 17 Dec

A case for ~lightning

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Wumbo 17 Dec

I probably can not help very much but did have a couple thoughts:

you mention "No error messages appear in console" does that mean you have tried to connect via ssh? For example using putty
Do you recall in the past or currently if you did anything with SSL certificate? I know at times I have to had to manually "register" (not sure this is the correct term), a SSL cert on my the client am connecting from.
Have you tried connecting to the IP address instead of the .local you mention?
Do you get the same result if you connect monitor,keyboard, and mouse vs connecting via web browser?
Can you tell if the machine is fully booted (or stuck in a boot loop)? Are any of the services visible (lightning node, file server)?

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @TheWildHustle OP 17 Dec

Tried the IP address without success (just tried it again just in case)

Havent tried connecting to it with monitor keyboard and mouse
Unable to sign into albyhub, but whenever I restart the server I get an email from alby telling me to login.
Not sure about the SSL certificate
Not sure what putty is, ive only tried connecting with web browsers with my root CA downloaded

If its a problem with the SSL certificate or if connecting with keyboard monitor and mouse works The 100k is yours.