FS Protection Mac (18.0) sign-in loop?

I've been running FS Protection for a while now with no real problem until recently. Now, whenever I try to open FS Protection, I get presented with a login page.

The first time this happened, it looked as though it was trying to run through a new install? But I've already set this machine up, so it was forcing me to create a new account. I finally relented and started creating a new test account, just to see what would happen. At some point during the process, I was kicked back to the login page where I basically had to start over again.

More recently, when I login, I end up mid-process to creating this test account. I walk through setting up things like time limits, bedtimes, and content filtering. Once I click next on the content filtering page, I'm kicked back to the login again.

I'm at a loss. Do I need to uninstall/reinstall? Any ideas on how to break this loop?

Answers

  • XenoPhage
    XenoPhage Posts: 31 Contributor

    Oh, I should probably put some more info in here. This started while I was running macOS Big Sur. I've since upgraded to the Monterey beta and I'm seeing the exact same behavior.

  • ArthurVal
    ArthurVal Posts: 233 F-Secure Employee

    Hi, @XenoPhage!

    Thanks for the report. Could I please ask you to to enabled debug logging in FS Protection and submit diagnostics via beta.f-secure.com?

    You can enable debug logging by holding down Alt (Option) key and clicking on the FS Protection icon in the menubar. It should direct you to install a configuration profile via System Preferences app if you are running Big Sur and higher.

    After debug logs are enabled, just reproduce the issue by opening the FS Protection UI and run Support Tool app (/Applications/fs protection/) to collect diagnostics.

    You should be able to log in to beta.f-secure.com using your existing account. Thanks in advance!

    Best regards, Arthur

    FS Protection Mac R&D team

    Best regards, Arthur

    Mac R&D Team

  • XenoPhage
    XenoPhage Posts: 31 Contributor

    Done! SAFE_BUG-03341

    Thanks!

  • ArthurVal
    ArthurVal Posts: 233 F-Secure Employee

    Hi, @XenoPhage!

    We've made a few adjustments for the new main UI in 18.0 beta 2 release.

    More details are available here: https://community.f-secure.com/en/discussion/124209/fs-protection-for-mac-18-0-releases#latest

    One thing to note still is that there seems to be an issue happening right after upgrade to the latest build on macOS Monterey. What we see happening is that main UI might ask you to log in to your fs protection account even though it is not required. So if you just close the window and restart it, it should go back to normal.

    We are now investigating the issue and hopefully will get to the bottom of it for the next release. But for time being, I'd like to ask you to share your findings once 18.0 beta 2 gets installed to your machine.

    We have just published it to our server and fs protection should pick it up within 9 hours from now. You should see build number 38777 in the dropdown menu when you click on fs protection icon in the menubar. That would indicate that you are running the latest version. You should also receive a notification once the upgrade is complete.

    Best regards, Arthur

    Mac R&D Team

    Best regards, Arthur

    Mac R&D Team

  • XenoPhage
    XenoPhage Posts: 31 Contributor

    Hey @ArthurVal,


    I saw beta 2 install this morning. I'm seeing the same behavior, though. I can see a flash of the main UI before its replaced with the login page. I've tried closing and reopening the UI several times, but to no effect.


    Thanks

  • ArthurVal
    ArthurVal Posts: 233 F-Secure Employee

    Hi, @XenoPhage!

    Thanks for letting me know that the issue is still occurring for you.

    I think I did manage to reproduce the issue on my end. I am not sure how exactly your machine ended up in this state but it looks like our new main UI logic does not know yet how to recover from this situation.

    Just confirmed that the old version of our UI can successfully recover from this. I'm currently working on the fix for the new main UI and we will include it in the next release of FS Protection.

    I see two options how we can handle this situation at the moment:

    • we can wait until the next FS Protection release to confirm that my fix helps to resolve the issue for you as well
    • I can share a workaround that might help to reset that problematic state for you right away that does not involve the fix that I'm currently working on

    I would prefer the first option as we would have a real life confirmation that the fix works. But I would also understand if you want to have a working UI right away.

    Best regards, Arthur

    Best regards, Arthur

    Mac R&D Team

  • XenoPhage
    XenoPhage Posts: 31 Contributor

    Hey @ArthurVal,


    I'm a beta tester. I live on the edge. Happy to wait for the next release to see if the fix works as intended. :)


    Thanks!

  • ArthurVal
    ArthurVal Posts: 233 F-Secure Employee

    Hey, @XenoPhage!

    We've just published a new version of FS Protection (18.0 beta 3 build 38860). It contains the fix I was referring to earlier.

    So hopefully it should not be ending up in a login loop for you anymore. Hope to hear about your experience with this new version. Thanks!

    We are aware of a different issue which may result in main UI showing login page on start up (some of our testers saw it recently on macOS Monterey). That should go away with a restart of the main UI. But hopefully, the login loop issue should be fixed now.


    Best regards, Arthur

    R&D Team

    Best regards, Arthur

    Mac R&D Team

  • XenoPhage
    XenoPhage Posts: 31 Contributor

    Hi Arthur!


    So.. Good news.. And bad news.


    Good news, I was able to get to the main UI. It made me log in again and create yet another child, but I made it to the main UI at the end. And then I noticed the switch user button!


    So.. Bad news.. I was able to get to the "My FS Protection" website and log in. Once there, I deleted the various child accounts I had and took a deeper look at my primary account. Apparently, somewhere along the way, the device listed for the account became dissociated. I suspect this happened when I moved to a new laptop and just used time machine to restore. fs Protection never popped up any sort of indication that I needed to register the new device.

    No matter! I simply deleted that device and figured that would solve my problem. BOY WAS I WRONG! I tried using switch user to choose my primary account and, instead, I get stuck on a "Could not validate license" page. I tried reinstalling using the installer provided by the website, but that didn't seem to do much. I did end up back at the main UI, but logged in as one of the child accounts, which I had deleted.


    So... how badly have I screwed this up and how do I recover? :)


    Thanks!

  • ArthurVal
    ArthurVal Posts: 233 F-Secure Employee

    Hi, @XenoPhage!

    Ok. I think there is not much to worry about here. Most likely, our backends are a bit confused with the latest movements on your account that you described above. And usually our backend team is able to untangle these confused states.

    So, did I get it right that currently there are no devices listed when you log in to My FS Protection portal?

    You mentioned that you see that message about not being able to validate the license. Those error messages also usually mention either an error code or a transaction ID that failed and caused that error message to be shown. Could you please check if you see anything like that on your screen? Or you can simply attach a screenshot of that message so that we can forward it to our backend team to check up your account.


    Best regards, Arthur

    Best regards, Arthur

    Mac R&D Team

  • XenoPhage
    XenoPhage Posts: 31 Contributor

    Correct, if I log into the website, there are no devices lists. Only my user is listed in the circle.

    I don't see an error number or anything associated. And that Close button doesn't do anything.

    Oh.. And the system tray icon is showing red now and it looks like everything has been disabled:

    Now I feel naked and unprotected! :)

    I'll send you a DM with my account name so the wizards can look into dispelling the bad magic I seem to have cast on my account.


    Thanks!

  • XenoPhage
    XenoPhage Posts: 31 Contributor

    Oh! It's magically fixed this morning. Not sure if your engineers corrected something or maybe it took a while for the changes to propagate. Either way, it seems like I'm back in business!


    Thanks!