Error: Network device is not present

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

I have had OpenWRT with OpenVPN running on a LinkSys WRT1900ACS for a while now, but recently OpenVPN has been unable to connect to my VPN provider (PIA).

The strage thing I'm seeing is in "Interfaces" where the unmanaged tun0 interface is reporting Error: Network device is not present. Here's a png w/ the error.

interfaces
interfaces1108×154 13.6 KB

I have the following errors in the OpenVPN log which seems to suggest something in the network, but I have had this config working just a few days ago and not sure what happened.

Tue Aug 18 18:51:17 2020 daemon.notice openvpn(pia_client)[7049]: OpenVPN 2.4.7 arm-openwrt-linux-gnu [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [LZ4] [EPOLL] [MH/PKTINFO] [AEAD]
Tue Aug 18 18:51:17 2020 daemon.notice openvpn(pia_client)[7049]: library versions: OpenSSL 1.1.1d  10 Sep 2019, LZO 2.10
Tue Aug 18 18:51:17 2020 daemon.notice openvpn(pia_client)[7049]: TCP/UDP: Preserving recently used remote address: [AF_INET]104.200.154.11:1198
Tue Aug 18 18:51:17 2020 daemon.notice openvpn(pia_client)[7049]: Socket Buffers: R=[163840->163840] S=[163840->163840]
Tue Aug 18 18:51:17 2020 daemon.notice openvpn(pia_client)[7049]: UDP link local: (not bound)
Tue Aug 18 18:51:17 2020 daemon.notice openvpn(pia_client)[7049]: UDP link remote: [AF_INET]104.200.154.11:1198
Tue Aug 18 18:52:17 2020 daemon.err openvpn(pia_client)[7049]: TLS Error: TLS key negotiation failed to occur within 60 seconds (check your network connectivity)
Tue Aug 18 18:52:17 2020 daemon.err openvpn(pia_client)[7049]: TLS Error: TLS handshake failed
Tue Aug 18 18:52:17 2020 daemon.notice openvpn(pia_client)[7049]: SIGUSR1[soft,tls-error] received, process restarting
Tue Aug 18 18:52:17 2020 daemon.notice openvpn(pia_client)[7049]: Restart pause, 5 second(s)
Tue Aug 18 18:52:22 2020 daemon.notice openvpn(pia_client)[7049]: TCP/UDP: Preserving recently used remote address: [AF_INET]104.200.154.22:1198
Tue Aug 18 18:52:22 2020 daemon.notice openvpn(pia_client)[7049]: Socket Buffers: R=[163840->163840] S=[163840->163840]
Tue Aug 18 18:52:22 2020 daemon.notice openvpn(pia_client)[7049]: UDP link local: (not bound)
Tue Aug 18 18:52:22 2020 daemon.notice openvpn(pia_client)[7049]: UDP link remote: [AF_INET]104.200.154.22:1198

/etc/config/openvpn

# ...

config openvpn 'pia_client'
        option dev 'tun'
        option nobind '1'
        option verb '3'
        option comp_lzo 'yes'
        option persist_tun '1'
        option persist_key '1'
        option client '1'
        option auth_nocache '1'
        option remote_cert_tls 'server'
        list remote 'us-seattle.privateinternetaccess.com'
        option auth_user_pass '/etc/openvpn/userpass.txt'
        option keepalive '10 120'
        option enabled '1'
        option tls_client '1'
        option resolv_retry 'infinite'
        option ca '/etc/openvpn/ca.crt'
        option crl_verify '/etc/openvpn/crl.pem'
        option cipher 'AES-128-CBC'
        option proto 'udp'
        option port '1198'

/etc/config/network

# ...

config interface 'PIA_VPN'
        option proto 'none'
        option ifname 'tun0'

/etc/config/firewall

config zone                                     
        option name 'VPN_FW'       
        option input 'REJECT'      
        option output 'ACCEPT'    
        option forward 'REJECT'       
        option masq '1'             
        option mtu_fix '1'
        option network 'PIA_VPN'

Any ideas?

2

If your VPN provider has changed some settings, you need to update your VPN profile and credentials.
If your ISP has started to block UDP or VPN protocols, try to use 443/TCP but make sure the VPN provider supports it.

1 Like
3

I don't believe anything has changed with my VPN provider. I've tried several of their current *.conf files to no avail. This configuration was working. What I'm concerned about is why the tun0 interface is reporting that error. I don't know what it means.

4

It means you cannot connect the VPN server due to connection timeout.
Possible reasons:

  • Incorrect VPN client configuration:
    • Incorrect server address
    • Incorrect port
    • Incorrect protocol
  • Your connectivity is limited or restricted:
    • Incorrect network configuration
    • The ISP or someone in the middle filters traffic
5

Lol, ya'think?!

6

The tun0 interface is only created after the connection and authentication is fully successful. If there are connection errors, naturally an interface not present error will subsequently occur.

First thing to try would be to ping the VPN server.

1 Like
7

I can ping the DNS servers of PIA just fine.

Thoughts?

8

That doesn't really prove anything though.

ping us-seattle.privateinternetaccess.com, which you have configured to be the OpenVPN server, does not work for me.

1 Like