PPTP VPN stalls on negotiating

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Level 1

55 points

PPTP VPN stalls on negotiating

unable to connect to vpn at work. windows machines have no problems. i am able to connect on the mac using digitunnel. here is the log file.

Wed Jul 13 18:11:21 2005 : Warning: can't open options file /etc/ppp/peers/VPN (PPTP) Configuration: Permission denied
Wed Jul 13 18:11:31 2005 : PPTP connecting to server '141.150.x.x' (141.150.x.x)...
Wed Jul 13 18:11:31 2005 : PPTP connection established.
Wed Jul 13 18:11:32 2005 : Using interface ppp0
Wed Jul 13 18:11:32 2005 : Connect: ppp0 <--> socket[34:17]
Wed Jul 13 18:12:02 2005 : LCP: timeout sending Config-Requests
Wed Jul 13 18:12:02 2005 : Connection terminated.
Wed Jul 13 18:12:02 2005 : PPTP disconnecting...
Wed Jul 13 18:12:02 2005 : PPTP disconnected
Wed Jul 13 21:08:45 2005 : Warning: can't open options file /etc/ppp/peers/Work: Permission denied
Wed Jul 13 21:08:45 2005 : PPTP connecting to server '141.150.x.x' (141.150.x.x)...
Wed Jul 13 21:08:45 2005 : PPTP connection established.
Wed Jul 13 21:08:45 2005 : using link 0
Wed Jul 13 21:08:45 2005 : Using interface ppp0
Wed Jul 13 21:08:45 2005 : Connect: ppp0 <--> socket[34:17]
Wed Jul 13 21:08:45 2005 : sent [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0x4e33e923> <pcomp> <accomp>]
Wed Jul 13 21:08:48 2005 : sent [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0x4e33e923> <pcomp> <accomp>]
Wed Jul 13 21:08:51 2005 : sent [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0x4e33e923> <pcomp> <accomp>]
Wed Jul 13 21:08:54 2005 : sent [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0x4e33e923> <pcomp> <accomp>]
Wed Jul 13 21:08:57 2005 : sent [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0x4e33e923> <pcomp> <accomp>]
Wed Jul 13 21:09:00 2005 : sent [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0x4e33e923> <pcomp> <accomp>]
Wed Jul 13 21:09:03 2005 : sent [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0x4e33e923> <pcomp> <accomp>]
Wed Jul 13 21:09:06 2005 : sent [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0x4e33e923> <pcomp> <accomp>]
Wed Jul 13 21:09:09 2005 : sent [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0x4e33e923> <pcomp> <accomp>]
Wed Jul 13 21:09:12 2005 : sent [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0x4e33e923> <pcomp> <accomp>]
Wed Jul 13 21:09:15 2005 : LCP: timeout sending Config-Requests
Wed Jul 13 21:09:15 2005 : Connection terminated.
Wed Jul 13 21:09:15 2005 : PPTP disconnecting...
Wed Jul 13 21:09:15 2005 : PPTP disconnected
Wed Jul 13 21:09:15 2005 : PPTP disconnected

I have signed on as the root user and used terminal to try and view the /etc/ppp/peers/XXX file that gets the permission denied error, but get errors saying that no such file exists. i can navigate to the /etc/ppp folder and execute an ls -l and it shows a blank directory. any ideas?

Posted on Jul 13, 2005 8:34 PM

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Answer 1

Tom Hoffman Author

Level 1

55 points

Jul 28, 2005 1:47 PM in response to Tom Hoffman

BUMP!

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Answer 2

Aug 3, 2005 8:37 PM in response to Tom Hoffman

I am having the exact same issue. Willing to provide log files or dumps to assist - please email me

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Answer 3

Sep 14, 2005 12:05 AM in response to Mark Steele1

BUMP!

I am having the same issue trying to establish a PPTP connection. My mini gets the same timeout on config-requests, but my Dell notebook is able to connect to the VPN just fine.

My Linksys router is set to enable VPN passthrough for PPTP connections. I think it's safe to rule out the router as the cause of the problem, since the Windows box can connect properly.

I'm able to provide logs from my end, and if I ask my boss nicely, I could probably turn on logging at the VPN server if that would help.

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Answer 4

Oct 2, 2005 9:04 AM in response to Tom Hoffman

Exactly the same issue here. By the way, the error reported by DigiTunnel is the same as the one appearing in Internet Connect log when I try to connect to the VPN with it:

Sun Oct 2 10:31:40 2005 : PPTP connection established.
Sun Oct 2 10:31:40 2005 : Using interface ppp0
Sun Oct 2 10:31:40 2005 : Connect: ppp0 <--> socket[34:17]
Sun Oct 2 10:32:10 2005 : LCP: timeout sending Config-Requests
Sun Oct 2 10:32:10 2005 : Connection terminated.
Sun Oct 2 10:32:10 2005 : PPTP disconnecting...
Sun Oct 2 10:32:10 2005 : PPTP disconnected

Some service on the Mac goes on timeout waiting for some kind of response, I would guess. Can anyone post their network information? Maybe this has to do with networking issues such as NAT/port forwarding, failing VPN pass-through and so on... My network's a bit tricky, here are the machines:

1. Powerbook connected via Airport Extreme to

2. Airport Express (VPN passthrough supported, but I can't find any option to explicitly enable or disable it) which extends via WDS the range of

3. Linksys wireless router connected to the Internet (VPN passthrough enabled here)

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Answer 5

Nov 7, 2005 11:29 AM in response to Tom Hoffman

Hi Tom,

I have the same problem. Have you found the solution ?

Thanks,

Ludo

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Answer 6

Tom Hoffman Author

Level 1

55 points

Nov 7, 2005 2:49 PM in response to ludovic leroy2

hi ludo
I wish i had better news for you. i was hoping 10.4.3 would fix the issue, but alas, it didn't. this thread, as you see, is mostly people with the same issues, noone has offered any insight to the problem. i managed to get an airport extreme for a decent price on fleabay, once it arrives, i will try the vpn again. i have also tested the vpn issue on a g4 powerbook with a clean install of mac osx 10.4.3 and airport card ( my g4 tower has 3rd party wireless card, sysetm profiler id's as airport extreme) with same result. digitunnel does connect flawlessly on it as it did on the tower

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Answer 7

Nov 9, 2005 3:03 AM in response to Tom Hoffman

Hi guys,

My yesterday's findings which might interest you.

I use NetGear DG834GT routers on both the VPN server side and the VPN client side. I found that the Macs work fine after a restart of the server-side router, but they stop working (stalls on negotiating) as soon as a PC connects. And it stays like that even if the PC(s) disconnect. It works again after a router restart. I've emailed NetGear, I'll keep you posted if they come up with something interesting.

BTW: My VPN Server is Windows 2000 Server but if yours is Mac OS X Server, have a look at that article :

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107915

Ludo

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Answer 8

Tom Hoffman Author

Level 1

55 points

Nov 24, 2005 5:39 AM in response to ludovic leroy2

well guys, i replaced the linksys router i had with an airport extreme base station and had no prob getting connected. so it appears that there was a router issue with the linksys (even with pptp passthrough enabled as well as the correct ports forwarded). now the only issue i have is routing. when connected to the vpn, i am unable to browse the internet. i can access servers, and the company intranet and that is all. i suspect it has something to do with NAT on the corp firewall and the NAT provided by the base station.

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Answer 9

Feb 21, 2006 7:47 AM in response to ludovic leroy2

Did you ever hear anything back about this? I'm having the exact same problem. Using a NetGear DG834 router and an XServe with PPTP. I've only enabled port 1723 on the router. After a fresh reboot of the server it seems to work, but only for a short while. After a couple of hours it spits out the message above, and hangs on password verification. Windows XP then times out with a 619 error. I tried the KB article, but that doesn't seem to have changed anything. Incidentally, it works if I try it from within my LAN, so I'm inclined to think it could be routing-related. However, if it was the firewall, surely the VPN service logs wouldn't show anything at all? It's becoming rather a mystery... I'm also having the trouble of the VPN blocking all other internet access, but I'll worry about that later. Might just be some internal routing issue, so we'll see what happens when I try it from home later... Any new comments would be gratefully received.

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Answer 10

Apr 2, 2006 5:36 AM in response to Dan Soderholm

I am having a very similar problem connecting to my work VPN (MS Windows Sever 2003 via PPTP). I used to be able to get the VPN to work, until we changed ISP at work and got a new ADSL router - now the server is connected by NAT.

The fact that I can VPN (via PPTP) in to a separate, but similarly configured (other than NAT), Windows server makes me think that NAT is the problem.

I am also able to VPN in to the work server from a Windoze box at home.

I am now trying to find a way of finding out exactly what pppd command the Internet Connect app in Mac OS X is sending when it tries to initiate the VPN. Any ideas how to do this? Maybe then we can change some of the settings/commands sent to see if that has an effect.

This article is useful, but I think out of date now, as the Mac OS X internals have changed in Tiger.

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20030311232930261&query=pptp

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