Psiphon PAF v3.132 Lacks Full List of VPN Exit Servers

Hi JooSeng,

1) In Psiphon PAF v3.132 (04 Jan 2018), only the following 7 options are displayed in the VPN exit server dropdown list for user selection:

1. Fastest Country
2. Canada
3. UK
4. Japan
5. Netherlands
6. Singapore
7. USA

On the other hand, the developer's portable includes the following 20 options for VPN exit servers:

1. Fastest Country
2. Austria
3. Belgium
4. Bulgaria
5. Canada
6. Switzerland
7. Czech Republic
8. Germany
9. Denmark
10. Spain
11. France
12. UK
13. Hungary
14. India
15. Japan
16. Netherlands
17. Romania
18. Sweden
19. Singapore
20. USA

The workaround to force the PAF to display the full list of available VPN exit servers is to either delete \Data\settings\Psiphon3Portable.reg, OR edit the file to change the below section:

代码: 全选

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Psiphon3]
"UICookies"="{\"language\":\"DefaultLanguage\",\"AvailableEgressRegions\":[\"CA\",\"GB\",\"JP\",\"NL\",\"SG\",\"US\"]}"

to:

代码: 全选

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Psiphon3]
"UICookies"="{\"language\":\"en\",\"AvailableEgressRegions\":[\"AT\",\"BE\",\"BG\",\"CA\",\"CH\",\"CZ\",\"DE\",\"DK\",\"ES\",\"FR\",\"GB\",\"HU\",\"IN\",\"IT\",\"JP\",\"NL\",\"RO\",\"SE\",\"SG\",\"US\"]}"

Can the PAF be made to always show the full list of exit servers, as & when this list is updated by the developer ?


2) The latest version of Psiphon is v3.132 (released: 05 Feb 2018, MD5: 186E46FFEA8C1AB9553C3AF5211F1ED2).

For some reason, the latest version shows "Client Version: 132" at the 'Logs' pane. I assume this refers to v3.132, although your PAF of 04 Jan 2018 is also labelled as v3.132.

Thanks !

[jooseng]

1) When I test, the list is automatically update. May be the selected language has effect on that.
2) I have just check, the current build is newer in the dev. site but the build number is still 132. You can replace it, which is only a single file, by yourself.

I had replaced the EXE binary before I submitted the initial comment.

1) I figured out what the issue is: I clicked Psiphon's Disconnect icon too soon after the PAF launched. That's because launching the PAF always launches the browser & tries to connect to a redirected URL (https://urldirector.net/?sponsor=<VeryLongString>). To stop that, I clicked Disconnect, & apparently there was not enough time for the exit servers list to get updated.

Manually editing the Psiphon3Portable.reg file to change the below value from 00000000 [PAF default] to 00000001 prevents the browser from launching & connecting to the redirected URL (which can be different each time):

代码: 全选

at PAF's \Data\settings\Psiphon3Portable.reg

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Psiphon3]
"SkipBrowser"=dword:00000001

2) The PAF leaves behind an empty HKCU\Software\AppDataLow registry key under the following conditions:

• if "SkipBrowser"=dword:00000000 [ie. PAF's default]; &
• when the PAF is used on a PC where Internet Explorer remains as the default browser, & the PAF launches IE to connect to the redirected URL

Thanks !

[jooseng]

I don't find any leaves behind on HKCU\Software\AppDataLow.
Can u give me the exact registry key path? I can not just delete "HKCU\Software\AppDataLow" .

The registry key HKCU\Software\AppDataLow is empty -- ie. it does not contain any subkeys or values.

The registry key gets created (with totally nothing inside) when the PAF launches Internet Explorer to connect to the redirected URL. This happens if browser-launching is not disabled (ie. SkipBrowser remains as default 00000000 in the PAF's \Data\settings\Psiphon3Portable.reg).

If IE x86 or x64 is launched independently, it also creates & leaves behind an empty HKCU\Software\AppDataLow. So this is IE's behaviour.

I had deleted the registry key multiple times earlier when testing the PAF. The key does not exist by default on my system (Win 7 x64), & deleting the key seems to have no negative impact.

The alternative way is to set SkipBrowser to 00000001, so that the PAF doesn't launch IE, & HKCU\Software\AppDataLow will not get created in the first place.

[jooseng]

This key is created when an app. write to "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\LocalLow". The app. that write to the directory in this particular case is IE, not Psiphon. So it is nothing to do with Psiphon.

I know what you mean. Below are just some thoughts & suggestions ...

Since a fresh Psiphon PAF already provides a default settings file Psiphon3Portable.reg in \Data\settings\, why not set: "SkipBrowser"=dword:00000001 , so that Psiphon doesn't launch IE to connect to the redirected URL ?

Benefits:

1. IE won't get a chance to write to: HKCU\Software\AppDataLow [empty]
2. Improved user privacy

As such, doing so provides even more value-add to your Psiphon PAF over the official no-install Psiphon pseudo-"portable".

Below is an analogy using an alternate hypothetical scenario ...

Launching Firefox PAF containing the portable Adobe Flash plugin, & then loading a SWF file will result in the portable Adobe Flash plugin writing to & leaving behind trash at some locations, such as:

• \AppData\Local\Macromedia\Flash Player\
• \AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Flash Player\
• \AppData\Roaming\Macromedia\Flash Player\
• HKCU\Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayer

Since it is the portable Adobe Flash plugin that writes to the above locations, this has nothing to do with Firefox itself.

But would you like your Firefox PAF to clean up the above leftovers -- assuming if it doesn't already do that ? (Likewise for similar leftovers created by other portable browser plugins like Java or Silverlight.)

If not, what is the advantage or value-add of using anybody's Firefox PAF over the official (non-stealth) Firefox pseudo-"portable" ?

If the above reasoning for value-added PAFs is not sensible or desirable, feel free to disregard my suggestion.


On a related note, may I check if you are still supporting Adobe Flash Player PAF, ie. the standalone (non-browser) player that uses the no-install Adobe Flash Player Projector binary ?

In a separate comment (06 Feb 2018), I provided feedback that the PAF left behind some leftovers after launching & immediate exit (ie. without loading any SWF file, or doing anything else): viewtopic.php?t=2117

Thanks !

[jooseng]

I will fix the left behind problem of Adobe Flash Player.
If the left behind is cause by an app., it should fix at that app. If you set firefox as the default browser,would you expect my Psiphon Portable clean the left behind by firefox? Why not you run IE once before using Psiphon?
I do not set "SkipBrowser"=dword:00000001 because some other users want the browser be automatically launched by Psiphon. You do not run Psiphon for not browse the web right.
Pls not that I am not make portable apps base on your preference only.