Vidalia/Tor from China

[Bysshe51]

Good afternoon,

I'm running into significant problems and I can't seem to find any answers in the forums. I was hoping one of the assistants could point me in the right direction.

I'm in China behind the GFW and am trying to access the TOR network (had to download the software from one of the mirrors already (http://tor.tomyn.com/). No matter which version software I try I get the following error.

Jun 27 15:21:07.997 [Notice] Bootstrapped 10%: Finishing handshake with directory server.
Jun 27 15:21:10.065 [Warning] Problem bootstrapping. Stuck at 10%: Finishing handshake with directory server. (DONE; DONE; count 9; recommendation warn)

I have 9 bridges setup and that part seems to work however I can't get the handshake to work.

I run OSX 10.6.4 on an intel macbook.
Vidalia 0.2.7
Tor 0.2.2.9-alpha
Qt 4.6.1

I've also tried the following install packages:
vidalia-bundle-0.2.1.26-0.2.9-i386.dmg
Tor-0.2.2.8-alpha-i386-Bundle.dmg
vidalia-bundle-0.2.2.13-alpha-0.2.9-i386.dmg

I use the following bridges
212.19.218.26:9001
84.203.235.7:4433
217.13.50.30:443
98.246.169.225:8768
97.86.32.219:444
195.43.157.85:443
96.255.136.215:443
24.165.153.42:443
173.212.213.183:443

I've read that the latest upgrade of mac OS breaks the openssl but the newer packages should have fixed that.
In addition I read that some people here in China got it to work 5% of the time... but I've tried it hundreds of times now for statistical significance.

Can you help with this problem? Again I've scoured the forums (both here and on torproject) to the best of my ability and can't seem to get it working.

Cheers!

[trevor]

I'm sorry, but I don't know the answer to the question that you've asked.

I've got to wonder, though, do you really need the anonymity that Tor offers, or do you just need to poke a giant hole through the Great Firewall of China? If you just need to poke a giant hole through the GFC, and you have a friend somewhere outside of China with a computer that's always on (preferably running Unix, Linux, or OS X), you can do the following:

1. Ask your friend to set up an account for you on their computer. Then, using ssh, connect to their computer. (This might also require your friend to port-forward the ssh port, 22, from their router to their computer which has your account on it.)

2. Set up an ssh tunnel between your computer and your friend's computer. Directions for this procedure (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=koM&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=ssh+tunnel+%22OS+X%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=) can be easily found with your preferred search engine (assuming said search engine results are allowed through the GFC. If not, try here (http://macapper.com/2007/05/22/advanced-os-x-secure-tunneling-via-ssh/)).

3. Once the ssh tunnel is set up, surf the web, read email, do whatever internet-related activity you wish. All communication between you and your friend is securely encrypted, and to the outside world, it all looks like it's coming from your friend's IP address.

This is typically faster than Tor, and less hassle. The only downside is that if you do anything actually illegal, it can be traced to your friend. And it does use some of your friend's internet bandwidth, too.

Trevor

[Bysshe51]

First: I definitely don't have the intention to do anything illegal.

I need the secure connection and anonymity because I'm setting up a Netherlands based jouranlism startup and need to maintain the secrecy of sources (although none of the current content has anything to do with China).

However when I left my flat I didn't realize it would be such a pain to setup this from inside China. Otherwise I would have left my servers on at my home which I unplugged to save power (being green and all).

SSHing into a friend's computer really isn't much of an option right now either since none of my friends are as nerdy as we are ;) Thanks for the tip though - when I get home I'm going to setup a proxy server at home for this purpose.

Still, if anyone has some experience with poking holes in the GFW with Vidalia, I'd like the help.