pixelserv pixelserv - A Better One-pixel Webserver for Adblock

[tomsk]

ABS users figured out some domains to whitelist to resolve the issue. Shouldn't by default it's already whitelisted in ABS with a fresh install? Hmm..

General recommendation for troubleshooting:

Open browser's Web Inspector and turn on pixelserv-tls logging (instructions here). Load the problematic page in browser.

Perhaps you will see what domains give you trouble..

Yeah, i also thought the offending domains must have been whitelisted already, as we are supporting the SNB site. But must be one of the others that i see being blocked.....is there a particular reason the the SNB site does this for the reply that pixelserv sends?

 

[kvic]

Yeah, i also thought the offending domains must have been whitelisted already, as we are supporting the SNB site. But must be one of the others that i see being blocked.....is there a particular reason the the SNB site does this for the reply that pixelserv sends?

I recall the issue has nothing to do with pixelserv-tls.

What happen if you disable pixelserv-tls, and redirect requests to 0.0.0.0?

 

[tomsk]

I recall the issue has nothing to do with pixelserv-tls.

What happen if you disable pixelserv-tls, and redirect requests to 0.0.0.0?

I disabled pixelserv and redirect to 0.0.0.0. and the problem stopped... not saying its a pixelserv problem of itself, but somehow importing the cert and the effect it has on the browser when the blocked ad domains match is perculiar... i imported the cert from my previous set up and i don't recall this happening.

 

[kvic]

I disabled pixelserv and redirect to 0.0.0.0. and the problem stopped... not saying its a pixelserv problem of itself, but somehow importing the cert and the effect it has on the browser when the blocked ad domains match is perculiar... i imported the cert from my previous set up and i don't recall this happening.

Did you happen to perform any history/cache clean up? Try enabling back pixelserv-tls. Flush PC's DNS cache. Then flush browser's history and cache. See if the issue comes back..

 

[tomsk]

Did you happen to perform any history/cache clean up? Try enabling back pixelserv-tls. Flush PC's DNS cache. Then flush browser's history and cache. See if the issue comes back..

I flushed the browser history and cache.... will have to work out how to flush the DNS cache first before i can do that ...... will let you know

 

[kvic]

I flushed the browser history and cache.... will have to work out how to flush the DNS cache first before i can do that ...... will let you know

Perhaps not bother with DNS cache in PC for now. So after you flush browser's hsitory/cache, you can reproduce the issue or the issue is gone?

 

[tomsk]

Perhaps not bother with DNS cache in PC for now. So after you flush browser's hsitory/cache, you can reproduce the issue or the issue is gone?

no the issue was still there after flushing the browser history/cache
found a guide for my Mac OS DNS cache here
https://www.igeeksblog.com/how-to-flush-dns-cache-in-macos-high-sierra/

 

[kvic]

no the issue was still there after flushing the browser history/cache
found a guide for my Mac OS DNS cache here
https://www.igeeksblog.com/how-to-flush-dns-cache-in-macos-high-sierra/

Oh you're a Mac user...you can flush DNS with

sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

How can I reproduce the issue? Any steps?

EDIT:

I just recall another trick you can try. Disable AB-Solution. Load the problematic page...
Enable AB-Solution and try to load the page again.

 

[tomsk]

Oh you're a Mac user...you can flush DNS with

sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

How can I reproduce the issue? Any steps?

EDIT:

I just recall another trick you can try. Disable AB-Solution. Load the problematic page...
Enable AB-Solution and try to load the page again.

Ok i disabled AB-Solution and loaded the SNB page.....as expected a lovely selection of ADs
I enabled AB again and the ADs seemed to carry on for couple of page reloads but the the problem came back again.....
The steps that got me here....I did a factory reset on the Ac68U, put in a freshly formatted usb stick and installed amtm.... then i just ran the installers for Ab-Solution and pixelserv from there....letting the script install Entware as it went as well......I had not removed the old pixelserv cert from the keychain in my MacBook and realised i would need to install a new one and absentmindedly installed the new one while the old one was still there. The SNB webpage issue started as soon as restarted the browser after installing the new cert...... I removed both the old and new certs and started agin with just the new cert but the issue continued....
Only other difference i noticed was that the yellow notice about disabling my ad blocker on the SNB pages was gone... assumed TLC had whitelisted additional domains since i last installed.

 

[kvic]

Ok i disabled AB-Solution and loaded the SNB page.....as expected a lovely selection of ADs
I enabled AB again and the ADs seemed to carry on for couple of page reloads but the the problem came back again.....
The steps that got me here....I did a factory reset on the Ac68U, put in a freshly formatted usb stick and installed amtm.... then i just ran the installers for Ab-Solution and pixelserv from there....letting the script install Entware as it went as well......I had not removed the old pixelserv cert from the keychain in my MacBook and realised i would need to install a new one and absentmindedly installed the new one while the old one was still there. The SNB webpage issue started as soon as restarted the browser after installing the new cert...... I removed both the old and new certs and started agin with just the new cert but the issue continued....
Only other difference i noticed was that the yellow notice about disabling my ad blocker on the SNB pages was gone... assumed TLC had whitelisted additional domains since i last installed.

lol. Too many moving parts I don't have in my setup. So I won't be able to try..

However, I can share my experience.

First, to create the issue. disable blocking (i.e. turn off ABS in your case). Load the problematic page. Everything is fine as you see the ads. Then enable blocking (turn on ABS). Load the page. You'll see nested frames.

Next, to fix the issue. Load a 3rd party page (not from the problematic site). Flush cache & history. Restart browser. Load the problematic page. The issue shall be fixed.

If still no luck, then I don't have further to offer at the moment.
I suspect your history & cache might not be completely cleaned up. So ensure you're on a 3rd party page when you flush the history.

For Apple users
Make sure your history purge syncs to iCloud and overrides other devices too! If in doubt, do a history & cache purge on every iDevice. lol

 

[JaimeZX]

Here's a new one. Trying to download an image I found with Google Images.
Image is hosted on Pinterest.
I try to go, nope, it's blocked in ABS. (Pinterest.com)
I add Pinterest.com to the ABS whitelist.
Still can't load the page.
I check Skynet. No blocking there.
I ping Pinterest.com from the Windows Command Prompt... very fast! Wait. It's pinging the Pixelserv IP. ???????????
I try again from the router SSH terminal command prompt. Same result.
What's going on here?

 

[kvic]

Here's a new one. Trying to download an image I found with Google Images.
Image is hosted on Pinterest.
I try to go, nope, it's blocked in ABS. (Pinterest.com)
I add Pinterest.com to the ABS whitelist.
Still can't load the page.
I check Skynet. No blocking there.
I ping Pinterest.com from the Windows Command Prompt... very fast! Wait. It's pinging the Pixelserv IP. ???????????
I try again from the router SSH terminal command prompt. Same result.
What's going on here?

pixelserv-tls does not touch your HOSTS files for blocking at all.

 

[JaimeZX]

Well that's what I thought, but somehow pinterest.com is redirecting to 192.168.10.3 in the router. I am baffled. The only thing assigned to .3 is pixelserv...?

 

[tomsk]

Well that's what I thought, but somehow pinterest.com is redirecting to 192.168.10.3 in the router. I am baffled. The only thing assigned to .3 is pixelserv...?

It must still be blocked by AB.... did you process the blocklist after you added pinterest.com to the whitelist?

 

[Jack Yaz]

It must still be blocked by AB.... did you process the blocklist after you added pinterest.com to the whitelist?

Or its still cached on the local computer

 

[JaimeZX]

It must still be blocked by AB.... did you process the blocklist after you added pinterest.com to the whitelist?

Of course. If I follow the blocklist in ABS -or- Skynet, it now doesn't reflect any blocking. (Pinterest WAS in the ABS blocklist, confusingly. So I had to whitelist it.)

Or its still cached on the local computer

That'd be reasonable, but I just tried it on a different computer without success. :dunno:

 

[tomsk]

Does your dnsmasq log still show pinterest being redirected to the pixelserv address? you should see something like

/tmp/mnt/Data/adblocking/blocking_file pinterest.com is 192.168.10.3

if 192.168.10.3 is the ip you set up for pixelserv

The dnsmasq.log that AB sets up if logging is enabled is at the same location that AB installed to at /adblocking/logs

 

[JaimeZX]

AMAZING. And thanks for the input.

So. pinterest.com had successfully been removed from /blocking_file.

HOWEVER, www.pinterest.com was still in there. I didn't realize that with and without the www were two separate entries.
Strange that "follow the logfile" in ABS wasn't reflecting that however. It was just silently being blocked, although it was showing pinterest.com before I whitelisted it. :dunno:

 

[kvic]

LOL

 

[Makaveli]

Just to provide an update.

Current stats

pixelserv-tls 2.1.3-test.4 (compiled: Jul 17 2018 01:44:19) options: 192.168.1.3 -l 2

uts    16d 00:49    process uptime
log    2    critical (0) error (1) warning (2) notice (3) info (4) debug (5)
kcc    1    number of active service threads
kmx    27    maximum number of service threads
kvg    1.20    average number of requests per service thread
krq    633    max number of requests by one service thread
req    91157    total # of requests (HTTP, HTTPS, success, failure etc)
avg    751 bytes    average size of requests
rmx    55988 bytes    largest size of request(s)
tav    14 ms    average processing time (per request)
tmx    7565 ms    longest processing time (per request)
slh    8445    # of accepted HTTPS requests
slm    60    # of rejected HTTPS requests (missing certificate)
sle    0    # of rejected HTTPS requests (certificate available but bad)
slc    70413    # of dropped HTTPS requests (client disconnect without sending any request)
slu    5516    # of dropped HTTPS requests (other TLS handshake errors)
uca    3    slu break-down: # of unknown CA reported by clients
uce    2661    slu break-down: # of unknown cert reported by clients
ush    196    slu break-down: # of shutdown by clients after ServerHello