SOLVED: PIA works from USB but not installed on hard drive

[watermint]

So I've been banging my head against a wall for a while here, and to be honest this might belong in the hardware section, but I'm putting it here because I haven't had this problem with any other program.

I initially installed Cinnamon 18.1, but have also tested with 17.3 and 17.1. In all cases, I was able to INSTALL Private Internet Access. While in testing mode (running from USB), I was able to connect through the app and everything worked perfectly.

However, once Mint was actually installed to the hard drive, trying to connect through the app resulted in a long "connecting" period, followed by disconnect, I assume due to timing out.
In 18.1 specifically, I tried connecting to the servers through OpenVPN in the network manager but had DNS leaks not fixed by the most common suggested remedies, namely editing the .opvn files or getting rid of OpenDNS.

The hard drive in question was scavenged from an old Dell laptop and is currently in a 2 hard drive, dual-boot older HP laptop.
Trying to run through the terminal just pulled the app's GUI up again, but I'm pretty sure relevant logs are in the PIA manager folder, at least the ones I didn't carelessly erase over the course of reinstalling different versions of the same OS over and over. I'll pull those up if you need them.

Does anyone know what might be causing the app to fail when installed to the hard drive but work when run from the USB, though? I'd assume everything but the hard drive itself is the same, since it's otherwise using the same hardware to run, so is this a hard drive issue? Or does something else change when the OS is actually installed?

(If we actually had decent internet privacy laws, I wouldn't have to bother with all of this... I am a little bit bitter.)

[greerd]

Did you encrypt your partition?

[watermint]

Did you encrypt your partition?

I encrypted the home folder. Do you think that caused the problem? It would be a difference between the two, and since the files are IN the home folder, I could see it having an effect...

[greerd]

Yes, it makes a difference, you have to create a folder outside your encrypted /home and link it back in.
From viewtopic.php?f=157&t=231863, half way down the page.

Step 1. Create a folder outside of the home directory that your user account can write to.
In Terminal one command at a time

Code: Select all

cd /
sudo mkdir pia
sudo chown $USER:$USER pia

Step 2. Move the PIA files to new directory

Code: Select all

sudo mv /home/$USER/.pia_manager /pia/.pia_manager

Step 3. Create symbolic link between the new and old folder.

Code: Select all

ln -s /pia/.pia_manager /home/$USER/.pia_manager

Now reboot and pia should connect
Cheers

[watermint]

That did it! I feel foolish for not considering the encrypted home folder as a potential issue, but it's all straightened out now, and running from the app in 18.1 prevents the DNS leak(-ish problem) too! Thank you very much for your help.

[greerd]

Glad it helped, an easy fix for an easily overlooked situation!
Perhaps you could edit the 'Subject' and add a [SOLVED]?

[watermint]

Done! Sorry about that.