PVR add-on does not connect to channels

bepsx · December 31, 2020 at 1:24 PM

Hi all,

I'm using a fresh installed release of LibreElec to watch public Italian TV (Rai or Mediaset) by means of the PVR simple client.

First of all I established a VPN connection with openvpn, checking the resulting IP address with Indigo Plugin and veryifing that it's indeed an Italian address.

Then I configured the PVR add-on as usual with IPTV channel list and tested most of them, but no link is accepted. Especially by the national channel RAI it explicitly shows a message that it doesn't accept connection from abroad.

That's really strange to me since I was used to this approach since many years and it always worked well. I tested the VPN connection on another pc with windows 10 and I was able to connect to any channel in the list by means of VLC player or by simply the channel homepage itself. So, I would exclude the connection as the source of the problem.

I tried also with the official Kodi RAI TV add-on, but even that one is unable to connect like the Italian ip address was not recognized.

Unfortunately I don't have many clues, so I ask you if you could have any idea on what's going on or simply how to trace back the origin of such a problem.

Thanks in advance and a happy new year,

Giuseppe

elonesna · December 31, 2020 at 3:33 PM

I don't use openvpn and I can't explain the problems you have, but with my zerotier network I always have to apply a linux routing command with delayed start (long enough for LE to establish the VPN interface) in autostart.sh to redirect all traffic to the remote VPN point

The command I use is

Code

route add -net 0.0.0.0 netmask 0.0.0.0 gw <remote-gateway-private-ip>

where <remote-gateway-private-ip> has to belong to a domain shared with your device, you will be able to see your domains with the ifconfig command. If I do not use this command, the Internet output is carried out through my local geographic IP and only VPN is used to connect with remote servers. After using this command, all internet outings are carried out from the geographic IP of the remote servers (obviously the VPN server device has to have a bridge established with the internet exit interface).

This may also be the solution to your problem of using local IP addresses instead of Italian IP addresses.

bepsx · December 31, 2020 at 6:03 PM

Hi and thanks a lot for your suggestion.

Unfortunately I'm not such a linux user (therefore I decided to go for LibreElec ), but I can share the ifconfig and the routing table I get from the system with the VPN up and running. Would you mind to take a look and see if you notice something that can be related to my issue? What would be in case the analogue command I would have to test like it is in your network?

Thanks a lot for the help,

Giuseppe

elonesna · January 1, 2021 at 10:48 AM

Try running the SSH command:

route add -net 0.0.0.0 netmask 0.0.0.0 gw 10.7.1.1

Note: I am surprised by the first and third tun0 routings ( Genmask 128.0.0.0), I do not know what they mean or what they are intended for. Don't forget to thoroughly review the openvpn server configuration.

To cancel the modifications, restart the device.

bepsx · January 3, 2021 at 12:30 PM

Hi,

after testing and contacting the VPN provider support we ended up there is some DNS leak in my sistem. This happens even if I manually specify the DNS address into the system options.

I found this old thread reporting a bug that could be the same in my case:

Static route when specify DNS Server and DNS leak in VPN - Bug Reports - LibreELEC Forum

Even in my case, the interface specified for the DNS addresses is the wlan instead of the tun0. So, I think it may be related to the general linux installation on which LibreElec is running... what do you think?

elonesna · January 3, 2021 at 6:49 PM

I always thought you were using your private VPN server. If you have problems with a public VPN server, check with your provider. I'm sorry.

bepsx · January 10, 2021 at 3:59 PM

After digging quite a bit, I was able to solve the DNS Leak problem only installing another distribution (Raspberry OS) with Kodi and integrating the solution proposed at this link:

GitHub - jonathanio/update-systemd-resolved: Helper script for OpenVPN to directly update the DNS settings of a link through systemd-resolved via DBus.

At the end of the day, the VPN was established correctly but the traffic was not redirected throught the tunnel causing the leaks.

I don't know how frequent or common this problem is, but for me this was the only solution I could find. I wonder if it would be possible to integrate it directly into LibreElec, to make it bulletproof against DNS Leaks.

Many thanks,

Giuseppe.

bepsx · January 10, 2021 at 4:22 PM

I also discovered a "Potential DNS Fix" in the Zomboided AddOn that could also solve the issue. More info in the Wiki:

07. Advanced Options · Zomboided/service.vpn.manager Wiki (github.com)

Giuseppe.